Beadle's New Dime Novels: The Buffalo-Trapper

This catalog entry describes the opening of "The Buffalo-Trapper," a dime novel by Charles E. Lasalle, published by Beadle and Adams in 1870. The story begins at a frontier tavern where three strangers gather during a storm: Waufy, a seasoned trapper with a scarred face and bear-skin coat; Lieutenant Willard Putnam, a young military officer awaiting an escort; and Jabez Spikes, a garrulous Yankee character in a yellow buckskin coat. Waufy recounts an encounter from ten years prior when, fleeing Blackfeet warriors with his partner 'Lije Havens after caching valuable beaver pelts, he encountered a remarkable white buffalo in a mountain stream. The narrative emphasizes frontier danger, survival tactics, and mysterious wildlife.