Show I 1 THE WHITE W WOLF years a family of catta baugus indians lived on an the corn als pi reserve I 1 in venango county 1 P pennsy e n ivanca ak 1 ti aft I 1 they were known as the jacobs and the males were all tall powerful men and stark hunters who followed game clear to the canadian frontier jim the youngest was the best known he killed the last elk ever seen been in that state and Is credited with baingi bringing into byers trading posts post on the allegheny the skins of forty one full grown bears all 11 taken in one winters hunt in 1863 he was guiding a party of gentlemen from new york among whom was the late roscoe conkling through the wilds of elk county A camp was made on the head waters of the clarion and the party made preparations tr to hunt for deer the next day jacobs had been ranging around the camp and came in late he was more than usually silent and sullen after a time passed in smoking he be startled the others by declaring that he intended leaving them at once and gave directions to find mccartys mccartyy McC artys trading post three miles down river where another aide would be had after some questioning as to his sudden resolution he explained he had seen a big white wolf volf and it was bad medicine tor for in juns so gathering up his traps and calling his two dogs he disappeared in the darkness of the woods next morning mccartys mccartyy McC artys post was found without any difficulty and the party hospitably received they told their story and mccarty a man of 65 who had passed his life on the f frontier ron said so jim seed the white wolf again ive heard of the varmint fifty years ago but never seed it nor do I 1 know of any white man who has but jim has no doubt for he aint a liar cr boaster and all the think it bad luck they are full of noti notions why do you know if they miss a good shot they think their guns bewitched and the barrel made crooked so they will spend a day huntin certain barbs take the gun apart load the barrel an and then drive down these barbs till its full then stick the breech in the fire and the charge goes off the barrel Is all right and they can shoot as well as ever of course all timber wolves Is more or less white specially the old ones but one plum white I 1 never see and dont expect to twenty miles cast of mccartys mccartyy McC artys on deaver beaver creek lived rush kemble he was a hunter and trapper cultivating enough land to raise corn for the family he had a small flock of sheep that he bad succeeded in raising although bear and panthers were plenty in the country around but his luck changed the sheep began to disappear he set traps watched at night while his son scouted around wh hs powerful bear dogs it was no use the sheep were taken one day he found on the soft mud on the bank of the creek a num a i a 11 I 1 MW NA Z I 1 I 1 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 i I 1 I 1 1 I 1 11 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 11 i il L t q I 1 0 1 5 I TOOK AIM AND FIRED ber of tracks unmistakably a wolf one day iu in september while he was absent from home his daughter ruth was feeding their one pig suddenly she aa saw w t the he chickens scampering tor for tho the barn while behind I 1 hiis was an animal like an enormous dog gaunt covered with rough hair and pure white I 1 in color it had caught a chicken and was devouring it full of terror she rushed into the house catching catchin up a rifle and calling the house dog she crept around the cabin the wolf had caught another chicken the dog was an old bear hound and game lie he rushed on an the L east beast whilo while ruth resting the gun on one of the projecting logs of the cabin took a long alin aim and fired the wolf gave a leap in the air and came down plump on the dog do in an instant the beast had disappeared and poor boston lay dead with his head half bitten off the next day kemble and two others started out to hunt down the white wolf As a lure the forequarter of a fleer deer had been hung in the woods a few i miles away and in the early morning mornan they found this gone and on the slightly frozen snow were plainly seen geen the big tracks of the wolf they tad had welve twelve fine dogs who hunted by br scent ind and all were confident that jim ja sobs white wolfs bide would come to the tanyard th trail led northwest over a range at a t 1 ellla 11 alij covered with laurel utterly bevla the dogs ran freely keeping i he men well u up P to the collar about they found pheasant leat leathers herf an the trail the I 1 wo if aad snapped up aa 1 on dna incie their gamer game was wa kead head insofar r I 1 if bakers bocles rocles CS itwara du dariL r as the ther evimae entered reir W iwald vgo ia jaylne I 1 one ona side I 1 wed faced trifle wi M rot areah i I 1 t I 1 I 1 ad 7 6 0 e 1 11 I 1 t 11 1 11 I 1 11 1 2 I 1 i r gerwig r at ab drea ay ba edlo al i t V r 4 i W aal r aara 1 nu k LU 4 itte it te A t ao jf c R im Z j iq M r 4 aa N 49 6 f il AM R Ns 71 Z t n i r I 1 IR MANA I 1 each man divided his roast ven venison isoland alff corn dodger with his dogs it grew grev I 1 bitter cold and very little sleep was had bad at daylight they began to smut scout around and d shortly a wild burst ot of trumpets from the pack showed they were naming on sight see look on an the top of yon rock jacobs was right its white although there was no sun it was perfectly clear and there was the wolf seen through the ahe thin wintry air the rock was bare and the animal stood as it caved carved in stone over three feet high at the shoulder the dead dead white hair was bristling with rage and the tail lashing like an angry cats one could see the hugo huge jaws and iron teeth clash jtb U nigh ahme hundred yards but let him have it IL four rites rifles cracked and the bullets sang but the white woh was gone the yelling of the dogs was waa plainly heard excited and eager all hands charged the rocks it was a hard climb they reached the top and the wolf was gone inside of an hour the dogs found the trail the dogs seemed confident and ran at racing speed the top of the ridge was covered with a scant growth of scrub oak and on the river side was sheer rock down sixty feet to the water right on a point of rocks that jutted butted out into the river the white wolf came to bay kemble plainly saw a huge gaunt animal covered with bristling white hair the red eyes glowed with fire and tor for an instant he lost his head the dogs were getting the worst of it and he fired A sudden budden flash and he plainly saw the wolf disappear over the face of the cliff all rushed to the spot there was not a trace at the toot foot of the cliff the th river was open no splash was heard for an hour they watched and then made a circuit but the dogs seemed indifferent and made no effort and this was the last of jim jacobs white wolf it was never seen or heard of again in northwestern pennsylvania there were skeptics but they were silenced by the fate of the hunters hunter not one died a natural death nor long after and jim jacobs escaped the many perils of the wilderness for thirty years to be crushed to death on the erie railway in ill 1865 |