Red Belt, the Tuscarora

This issue of Beadle's Dime Novels (No. 217, November 22) features "Mountain Gid, the Free Ranger; or, The Bandit's Daughter" by W. J. Hamilton. The story follows Old Gid Granger pursuing a criminal League operating in the northwestern hills who prey on settlers, travelers, and trappers. Gid, compared to the character Nick Whittles, pursues vengeance and love to a romantic climax. The catalog also advertises the serial "Red Belt, the Tuscarora," which opens with a nighttime canoe escape on the Kanawha River. Sampson Lowe (called the Lean Wolf) and the young Tuscarora warrior Red Belt narrowly evade gunfire from the Mingo chief Oo-lum-lah and a white associate named Derrick Thorne. The narrative establishes rival factions in frontier wilderness conflict, with coded messages via wampum indicating a comrade named the Leaping Deer is in danger.