User:Stephencsmith

'Jack Munroe (June 21, 1877 – February 13, 1942), also known as the "The Cape Breton Miner'", was an Canadian boxer a man of heroic proportions; the savior of Golden City, a World Class heavyweight boxer, a millionaire prospector, a writer, a soldier, and the man whose collie was the inspiration for Lassie. Munroe came from humble roots in Cape Breton. A natural athlete and adventurer, he went west in search of gold. In Montana a chance exhibition boxing match lead to a boxing career, and his record included heavyweight bouts against the World’s best, James J. Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Peter Maher, and Tom Sharkey. It made him an international celebrity. But his true passion was prospecting, and his successes in Northern Ontario only added to his reputation.

When war was declared in 1914 he gave it all up, and enlisted as a Private in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. He brought his faithful collie with him, and ‘Bobbie Burns’ went to war as the first Regimental mascot of the ‘Patricias’. Munroe survived the destruction of his Regiment at Bellwaerde Ridge in 1915, only to have his war ended by a sniper’s bullet a few months later.

Severely disabled by his wounds, Munroe was repatriated to Canada, and he returned to his true love, prospecting in Northern Ontario.