Collins John H. Baronet

Collins John H. Baronett (* 1829 in Glencoe , Scotland ; † 1901 in Tacoma , Washington , USA ), called Jack Baronett or Yellowstone Jack , was an American pioneer, scout, prospector, sailor and soldier. One traveler led by Baronett described him as a man of medium stature, broad-shouldered, and mild and friendly in character.

Baronets travels

Baronett grew up in Scotland . His father was a seafarer and took him on several trips. At a young age, Baronett himself worked as a seaman, but deserted in China in 1850 . From there he made his way to California , where he participated in the gold rush . After a short time he moved on to Australia and Africa , always looking for gold. As the second mate of a whaling ship, he then took part in a trip to the Arctic. From there he returned to California in 1855, served for a while in the Mormon War as a courier under General Albert Sidney Johnston and then looked again for gold. A little later, the American Civil War broke out. Baronett sympathized with the southern states and joined the First Texas Cavalry . He moved before the end of the war by Mexico to the French under Emperor I. Maximilian to serve.

Yellowstone Jack

In 1864, Baronett settled in the upper Yellowstone River area in the north of the United States to look for gold. He spent the winter of 1866/67 at Fort CF Smith . He and other men ventured through the Lakota territory - Indians who had cut off supplies to the northernmost US Army outpost on Bozeman Street. The group with the baronet found the men of the outpost almost starving and gave them the help they needed.

After this assignment, his service as a scout under George Armstrong Custer took him to the Black Hills in what is now the US state of South Dakota .

In the fall of 1870, the baronet was in Helena, Montana , when a reward was promised for the rescue of Truman Everts , who had lost his way in the Yellowstone area during the Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition . Baronett succeeded in finding and saving Everts first. However, Everts refused the promised reward. Instead, Baronett heard that gold had been found at the Clarks Fork . He reacted immediately and in 1871 built the first wooden bridge over the Yellowstone River near the Lamar River in what is now Yellowstone National Park . It became an important passage for the prospectors. Baronett ran it for a number of years for a fee. Often he left the bridge to the care of others and led hunting parties or military troops through the Yellowstone area or looked for gold.

After more and more horses were stolen in the Bozeman, Montana region , Baronett was appointed Deputy Marshal of Bozeman. Together with soldiers and civil men, he managed to drive part of the gang of thieves to Jackson Hole . A horse thief was shot and fifty horses were taken back.

In 1877 he helped PW Norris recover the bones of George A. Custers scout Charley Reynolds , who was killed in the battle of the Little Bighorn River . In the same year, the Nez Percé Indians under Chief Joseph fled from the US Army through Yellowstone National Park and burned Baronett's Bridge in the process. In the fall of 1878, Baronett and Norris rebuilt the bridge.

In the meantime Baronett was regarded as an excellent expert on the Yellowstone area. In 1878 a mountain peak along the path to the northeastern park entrance was named after him Baronett Peak . In 1883 he led a group with General Philip Sheridan , who had fought on the enemy side in the Civil War, and US President Arthur through the newly established Yellowstone National Park. On the way back they stopped at Baronett's hut by the bridge to rest.

Baronett married Marion A. Scott of Emigrant Gulch on March 14, 1884 in Bozeman . She later worked as a post office manager in Mammoth Hot Springs , the administrative center of the park.

On August 20, 1886, Baronett became the first official park scout. He performed this service until June 30, 1887.

Retirement

In 1894, Baronett's Bridge, in which he had previously invested US $ 15,000, was taken over by the state. Baronett took legal action against it. Ultimately, the US Congress awarded him US $ 5,000 in compensation; Baronett's legal fees alone had come to 6,000 US dollars. He used the compensation for an expedition to Nome , Alaska during the last pulls of the gold rush there. In the arctic ice he lost his schooner; He didn't find any gold. As a result, his health deteriorated rapidly. In 1901 he died penniless in Tacoma, Washington.

literature

• Aubrey L. Haines: The Yellowstone Story - A History of our First National Park. University Press of Colorado, Niwot, 1996, two volumes: ISBN 0-87081-390-0 and ISBN 0-87081-391-9 .

Web links

• National Park Service: Collins John H. Baronett (English)