“I’m not scared of any man or devil; that’s just not who I am. If someone thinks they can shoot faster or better than me, they’re welcome to try. A .44 gun makes things fair between a weak woman and a strong man—and every woman should be able to protect herself from bullies like that.” – Ellen “Captain Jack” Jack, Queen of the Rockies.
Ellen Elliot Jack was born in New Lentern, Nottingham, England, on November 4, 1842. When she was a little girl, a gypsy queen told her she would have a life full of both pain and wealth. It sounded like just a story, but those words turned out to be true. Ellen met her future husband, Charles E. Jack, in 1860 while on a steamship called the James Foster.
After they married, Ellen and Charles lived in New York. Soon after, Charles left to be a Navy captain during the Civil War. While he was gone, Ellen had their first daughter. After the war, she had a son. Sadly, both children died from scarlet fever. Later, she had two more daughters, but lost one of them to the same sickness. Not long after, her husband died from heart problems.
After all this sadness, Ellen decided to move west. She left her living daughter with her sister-in-law and went to Gunnison, Colorado. There, she opened a busy and successful boarding house and started looking for silver and gold in the mountains. On one trip, Ellen found a rich silver mine and named it the Black Queen.
The mine brought her success, but also problems. Many men tried to win her heart, but she only loved one man—Walsh—who turned out to be a trickster. He tried to steal all her money but failed.
Ellen was very good with pistols and rifles and had to use them more than once. Life in the rough mining towns was dangerous, and she was always ready to protect herself. She was arrested several times, but each time it was for a good reason—whether she was defending herself from thieves, cheaters, or attackers.
Ellen spent the rest of her life searching for treasure in Colorado. People say she always carried two things with her: her pick-ax and her pistol.
A photo from a 1906 postcard shows Ellen “Captain Jack” Jack at about age 64, proudly holding her British Bulldog .44 caliber revolver.