Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1041

This is an issue of Beadle and Adams' dime novel series from July 6, 1897, featuring the serial "Cowboy Chris to the Fore; Scourging the Scourge of the San Juan" by Wm. West Wilder. The story opens at a dance at Robinson Ranch in the San Juan Valley, where ranchers, cowboys, miners, and locals gather. Cy Robinson's daughter Nina and visiting guest Nellie Welland are introduced alongside Nellie's father, Rodney Welland, who suffers from past memory loss. Tension arises when Orson Colfax, an Eastern tenderfoot who has purchased the Diamond Ranch, arrives—his effeminate manners and hiring of Mexican foreman Pablo Pajario provoke contempt from veteran cowboys like Round-up Rube. The gathering darkens when cattle-rustler Black Phenix is rumored active in the region. An enslaved banjo player named Pete performs comic songs before two young men, including protagonist Cowboy Chris, arrive at the gathering.