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This painting by Gerard Dou portrays the popular image of a religious prophet, remote from the world, commenting on what he sees.
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This map of Scioto Township in Delaware County shows a possible location for the discovery of the alleged Wild Man, marked with a star. This was a wooded area on the Scioto River, near the interurban tracks which were likely later incorporated into these railroad tracks just south of U.S. 36. This area, or the steeper wooded area across the river are the most likely locations for the capture of James (or Jason) Black.
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German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a bit of a wild man himself, famously wrote his philosophical treatise “Thus Spake Zarathustra” as a transformation of the ancient middle eastern wild man and prophet Zoroaster.
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American philosopher Henry David Thoreau removed himself from society to observe and find deep perspective in the 1840s.
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The result of Thoreau’s contemplation was “Walden,” one of the classics of American literature. Is it possible that the clearly educated young Jason (or James) Black was inspired to take to the woods by reading this book in college?
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The quintessential wild man of the woods is Myrddin Wyllt, the early British hermit who serves as the root of many of the stories of the sorcerer Merlin, part of the King Arthur legends.
GALLERY: Wild Man Mystery
