He called himself James Cook, and spoke with an English accent. But when asked about his past, he spun fanciful and ever-changing stories full of world travels, tiger hunts, shanghaiings and the like; he went to his death a total enigma. (The Dalles, Wasco County; 1878) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1710b.john-cook-international-murderer-of-mystery-464.html)