The Silver Bugle

# The Silver Bugle

This dime novel by Lieut.-Col. Hazleton centers on frontier conflict in 1860s Minnesota and Wisconsin. The narrative opens with extensive description of the Minnesota and St. Croix rivers, then introduces the Ashby family—settlers from New York with two daughters (Grace and Carro), a son (Harry), and two younger children. They have adopted Minneapolis, a mixed-race girl whose Sioux father and Minnesota mother have died, educating her for civilized society while she maintains her forest skills.

As the Civil War erupts and Sioux tensions escalate, the warrior Conanchet ("Bloody Tomahawk") and one hundred warriors threaten the settlement, seeking Minneapolis for marriage. The community fortifies a block-house with multiple defensive levels. On a stormy June evening in 1862, Minneapolis goes missing near "Ashby's Look-out." A mysterious bugle blast emanates from that location. The deformed settler Hill, bearing scars from Conanchet's previous torture, reveals knowledge of Indian fighting tactics and a personal vendetta against the warrior.