The Doomed Hunter

# THE DOOMED HUNTER

This dime novel by James L. Bowen, set in early Ohio frontier history, centers on the conflict between Ralph Riley, an honorable but poor young hunter, and Jehonikam Andrews, a wealthy and miserly fur-dealer who monopolizes Forest Valley. Ralph seeks Andrews's consent to marry his daughter Nancy, claiming she loves him and has agreed to marry him. Andrews refuses violently, arguing his daughter is meant for a wealthier suitor from the East, dismisses Ralph's character and honorability as irrelevant, and expels him from his store with threats of violence. Ralph declares Andrews will soon repent this rejection and departs, having overheard the quarrel. The narrative establishes tension between the poor but virtuous frontier hunter and the acquisitive merchant, setting up a tragedy suggested by the novel's title.