The Native American Called jack

Wateree Jack awoke and felt something wet on his face. His eyes blinked open and he looked into the face of Dog.  His faithful hunting companion was standing over him as he lay on the floor of his small cabin. The Native American arose and realized his dog had been licking his face. He donned his trousers and homespun shirt. Around his waist he put his belt with the large knife the old master had given him when he gave him his freedom. It was Jack’s most prized possession. He was never without it. Many deer had been relieved of their skin with that knife. Jack pulled his long hair back and tied it with a leather throng. His black hair was now streaked with gray. He put a hat on his head and stepped outside his small cabin. The hat was black like most farmers wore except his had a white egret’s feather in it. He had a small earring in his left ear and otherwise looked like most other men except that his skin was a bit darker, like one who had spent a lot of time in the bright Carolina sun. Wateree Jack was most likely the wealthiest Native American in the colonies. He had raised and trained horses and acted as guide and translator to those who ventured into the wilderness. As he walked beneath the tall live oaks he reflected on his years with the English.There had been many good years but the memory of his abduction from his tribe's flaming village still haunted him. And at night he could still hear the screams of his mother as the Englishman pulled him from her arms. That day seemed to be long ago, but was alive at night in his dreams.  

It was a fifteenth day of May in the year 1715 with an almost cloudless sky except for the hint of a thundercloud on the southern horizon. On a day like this years ago in 1697 he had gone to the north for old Master Moore to purchase horses. He and the two white men had been attacked by some Tuscarora Indians while they were crossing the great river of the white flowers. The river would later carry the name of the Catawba tribe. One of the white men was killed and he, Wateree Jack, and John Herne, a white man, had escaped. Herne escaped harm but Wateree Jack was wounded. His master, James Moore, had trusted him with a large amount of silver for purchasing horses but it was stolen by the attacking savages.  Jack had to live off the land when he escaped the attackers, recalling the skills learned in his youth with the native people. His people.  Eventually he reached a settlement in North Carolina and a local surgeon removed the musket ball from his leg.  And upon recuperation he led a trading party back to the Boochawee Plantation and his master.

The old master was quite an Indian fighter and hated the Spaniards too. Wateree Jack had accompanied him when he ventured into Florida to attack the Indians and Spaniards there. That was in the early 1700s. Most of these expeditions were successful but they were unable to capture Castillo de San Marco in Saint Augustine. But those adventures were long ago and much had changed since then. The old Master had made his fortune in raising horses, most of which were used by the traders who did business in the Carolina backcountry.  To Wateree Jack’s chagrin the old master, James Moore I, had come down with a fever in 1706 and never recovered. The young Master,  James Moore II, did not give Watereee Jack the responsibility and respect his father had. 

There seemed to be a lot of activity about the plantation on that day in May, 1715. Some of the local plantation owners  were gathering. Jack was curious about what was going on. Old Moses, the house slave, said all the plantation owners were gathering to decide what to do about the Indian uprisings. He heard that the Indians had attacked and killed some of the English. Although Jack lived at Boochawee, he continued to be aware of goings on in the Indian nation. It was true that he no longer had any relatives there, but as the provider of game for the master's table, he often met native Americans while hunting. Wateree Jack was an expert woodsman and hunter. He was an expert with his musket which was like those of the white men, not a poor quality musket like those sold to the Indians. From hunting he knew that the white tailed deer were not as plentiful as they once were. The white men had killed so many deer that there were hardly any left for the Indians. He had heard white men speak of ships loaded with deerskins shipped to England. The English had taken more of the Indians land for their rice plantations also. The land had once been promised to the Wateree and other native people for their hunting grounds. His people had become dependent on the white man. Once they had lived in harmony with the English, but no longer. They had become angry. They were on the warpath and had massacred some colonists which included John Herne and family. 

On this day the Englishmen were meeting to decide on where to attack the Indians.  The men of the militia were gathered. Thomas Barker was in command. The young captain had arrived at Boochawee the day before and brought his young wife with him. She was James Moore’s sister. Wateree Jack had watched Moore, his sister and Barker grow up together.  The Indian thought that Barker’s young wife was the prettiest white woman he had ever seen. Her hands were so small and soft, not large and rough like Indian women’s hands. And she smelled like spring flowers.  After the meeting was over his master, James Moore II, sought him out. Although he had been given his freedom by James Moore I, his son, James Moore II, treated Wateree Jack more like a slave than a free man.  He told Jack that he would be the guide for Captain Thomas Barker's cavalry. Jack said little and went about saddling his horse. He had a number of horses, but picked his favorite, a young chestnut gelding. Within an hour the one hundred well armed  cavalrymen were underway with Wateree Jack guiding them.

As men on horseback moved through the dense primeval forest of tall pines and scrub palmettos, Jack would scout ahead and return to report to Captain Barker what lay ahead.  About forty miles northwest of Boochawee Plantation and near the great river, Jack scouted ahead but did not return to report to Capt. Barker. Little did they know that as soon as he was out of sight he had removed his hat. His long hair fell to his shoulders and almost ceremonially he stripped to his loincloth. 

The militia reached a point where there were hundreds of fallen trees. A  hurricane the year before had decimated the forest. The roots of the giant pines and live oaks reached skyward like the hands of so many demons of hell. Within the hour Capt. Barker's men came under attack by a band of over four hundred armed Indians who lay in ambush. They were not just the Wateree, but the Catawba, Sarraw, and about seventy Cherokee from the Carolina hill country. The white men, though mounted and better armed, stood not a chance when outnumbered nearly six to one. Captain Barker did not survive the ambush. They say Wateree Jack shot the militia captain from his saddle. And the youngest daughter of James Moore I. became a widow. The battle was quick and decisive. 

Twenty-three of the militia fell to the native attackers. Without leadership the company was in disarray and retreated. The militia survivors returned, many of them wounded, to Booshawee and gave account of the battle. The settlers were terrified. The Goose Creek settlement was abandoned as the residents fled to Charles Town. The survivors of the battle told how Wateree Jack had led them into an ambush and joined the Indians. One man said he had seen Jack fighting alongside his red brothers. Another had seen Jack taking a cavalryman's scalp. Some say they saw Wateree Jack in other battles with the Indians. Although they say he was killed, his body was never found.

The local folk say that today on warm summer evenings in the loblolly pine and scrub palmetto forests of the land between Goose Creek and Eutauville you'll see a shadowy figure appearing among the trees. And that is Watteree Jack...and he still seeks revenge!