# Arizona Joe (The Strange Life of Captain Arizona Joe, A Young Scout)
This serialized narrative follows Joe Bruce, a fourteen-year-old orphan-bound military school graduate from New York. After his uncle's death leaves him and his mother destitute, Joe persuades his mother to let him travel to Texas to seek his fortune as a cowboy, having befriended Walter Duke, whose wealthy cattle-ranching father has promised him employment.
The installment depicts Joe's departure and journey to Little Rock, where he encounters a shooting competition for a belt of arms and a prized horse with saddle and bridle. Despite his youth and inexperience with revolvers, Joe wins both contests through exceptional marksmanship learned at New York shooting galleries, earning the nickname "Arizona Joe" through his victories and proving his courage and skill to seasoned frontiersmen. The narrative combines adventure, coming-of-age themes, and frontier shooting matches.
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About this artifact
- Date
- June 1902
- Rights
- Public domain — free to view, share, and reuse.
- Restoration
- Digitally restored and hosted by ComicBooks.com.
Part of our mission to preserve and restore the public-domain heritage of the medium.