The Backwoods Banditti

The Backwoods Banditti; or, The Hidden Home by Edward Willett is a frontier adventure narrative set in 1851 west of the Rocky Mountains near the Columbia River headwaters. The story follows Ben March, an experienced trapper; Harvey Dyce, a young Missourian seeking adventure; Eliphalet Stebbins, a Yankee emigrant abandoned by his party; and Bighorn (Johnny Jumper), a Delaware Indian companion. While camping on the prairie, Harvey encounters Mollie Bradley, a nineteen-year-old girl living in the wilderness with her father Silas Bradley. She warns Harvey of an Indian archer and reveals familiarity with Ben March. The narrative establishes tensions involving hostile Indians, approaching prairie fires, and mysterious dangers in the remote landscape.