Jacob ("Jake" to his pards) is a tall, rawboned Texan who speaks with a drawl and shoots with a Winchester. He has seen the elephant more than a time or two, and is reckoned to be a good man to ride the river with by those who have been in dust-ups with him.

Here is a description of Jacob when Tracy first met him:

Jacob is taller than average, standing right at six feet tall, and weighing around 165 or 170 pounds. Age-wise, he looks to perhaps be in his mid-30's. The areas where his skin have been exposed to the sun -- his face, neck, and hands -- are deeply tanned. He wears a moustache and goatee beard. His hair and beard are a medium brown, his eyes blue.

He wears a linsey-woolsey shirt of medium blue, charcoal gray trousers, a good-quality Western (cowboy) hat of a lighter gray (in that place and time, some might have called it Confederate gray), and a light-sandstone colored duster coat. His boots look dusty, but are not down-at-the heels.

A canvas duffel bag sits atop the large steamer trunk, and Jacob carries a rifle in its scabbard in the crook of his left elbow.