Captain Jack made his last visit to Rapid City in 1893. He reportedly liked the town, and dedicated a poem to his “Foot Hills Queen.” Captain Jack was disappointed at how fast things were changing, ended the poem with this warning:
Remember Rome was not erected in a day
You maybe Rapid, yet I thought it strange
That some were roaring for a rabid change
Sustain the good old name will time shall last
Be Rapid always-but be not too fast.
Captain Jack died of Bright’s Disease in New York in 1917. John H. (Ranger) Pierce, one of his old colleagues in the days of frontier riding and writing in Dakota penned this poem:
Goodbye to Captain Jack.
The only foe that ever gained
Your conquest, has attained
The victor’s place in fight.
I read you died last night.
I stand alone, Wild Bill
And Texas Jack, Buffalo Bill
And California Joe, none that I
Was wont to know
To hold the trait, when I am called to go
I stand alone, The Ranger of the Plains.
Jack Crawford, poet-scout.
So you are mustered out.
Goodbye, old Captain Jack,
I loved you, but I would not bring you back.