Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 801

# Catalog Note

This November 1892 issue of Beadle's dime novel series features "The Roster of Rogue River Ranch: The Romance of a Range Mystery" by Lieut. A. K. Sims, author of numerous western serials. The main narrative opens with Seal Shelton trapped on a blazing pine-needled bluff above the treacherous Rogue River, surrounded by advancing forest fire. Contemplating suicide, he is rescued by Marian Carlow, the ranch owner's daughter, who swims her horse across the dangerous river, climbs a perilous granite slope, and throws him a rope to escape. A secondary narrative introduces Kent Kirby, a boastful cowboy claiming to be "the High-Kicker from Killbuck," who arrives seeking employment at Carlow's ranch. Per custom, applicants must rope a captured half-grown grizzly nicknamed "General" while riding a wild broncho—a test Kirby prepares to undertake amid the cowboys' skeptical amusement.