CAPTAIN JACK "THE POET SCOUT" CRAWFORD - INSCRIBED AUTOGRAPH POEM SIGNED - HFSID 262724

CAPTAIN JACK "THE POET SCOUT" CRAWFORD
He pens this poem in black ink to an admirer
Autograph Poem inscribed and signed: "Yours Truly/J.W. Crawford/Capt Jack" in pencil, 1p, 5¼x8. Headed: "Acrostical/To Mary". In full: "May angels bless thee Mary,/And keep you in their Care./Rest and peace and pleasure -/Yours Joy and skys (sic) most fair." Written on verso of rare steel engraving of the American scout/author. B/w, image 4¼x5¼ (one surface). John W. Crawford (1847-1917), known as "Captain Jack, The Poet Scout", began writing verse and reciting his rhymes in the late 1870s and became a popular lecturer. His first volume of verse, The Poet Scout, was published in 1879. "Captain Jack" had a colorful career in the Old West, beginning when he is said to have been one of the first seven men to enter the Black Hills region after the ill-fated Custer expedition. There, he served as Chief of Scouts for the Black Hills Rangers. During the Sioux Wars of 1876, "Captain Jack" was a scout in New Mexico and also a special agent of the Indian Bureau near San Marcial on the Rio Grande River. Crawford, who also wrote three plays and over 100 short stories, had not learned to read and write until during the Civil War, when he wounded at Spotsylvania and sent to a hospital, where he was taught by a nurse. Poem is soiled, touching signature. Irregular lower left edge from removal from bound book. Engraving is soiled at blank margins. Overall, fine condition.