Red Claw, the One-Eyed Trapper; or, The Maid of the Cliff

This 1883 Beadle and Adams dime novel serial, "Red Claw, the One-Eyed Trapper; or, The Maid of the Cliff" by Capt. Comstock, opens with the eponymous trapper—a scarred mountain man known for his exceptional marksmanship and frontier combat prowess—traversing the Ozark peaks at dawn. His keen single eye compensates for his missing one. Accompanied by Chick, a foundling Indian boy he raised, Red Claw encounters an extraordinarily beautiful Indian maiden named Winnibah balanced precariously on a mountain spur. When she flees across a treacherous ravine-crossed ledge, she barely clears a chasm but loses an ornate moccasin in the leap. The trapper recovers it. Later, an Osage warrior named Omeeno appears at their cabin demanding the moccasin, claiming Winnibah and he share romantic feelings. Claw arranges a rendezvous at the White River to return it himself, intending to learn whether Winnibah truly loves the Indian before deciding whether to fight him.