Beadle's New Dime Novels: Indian Joe, the Guide

# Catalog Entry: Indian Joe, the Guide (Beadle and Adams Dime Novel)

Indian Joe, the Guide: The White Spirit of the Hills is a wilderness adventure narrative by Major Lewis W. Carson (1871), sequel to Ben, the Trapper. The story opens when Daniel Crowley, a young hunter and guide, awakens Yost Hoppen, a German immigrant who fled St. Joseph, Missouri to avoid excise regulations on beer sales. After extensive comic dialogue establishing Yost's obsession with lager beer and his philosophical views on drinking, Crowley invites him to join a trapping party heading toward California. The narrative introduces the camp's members: two ordinary trappers, a half-breed guide, and Jeff Rooter, a sharp-featured hunter who antagonizes Yost upon arrival. Jeff challenges the Dutchman to wrestle, expecting to intimidate him. Yost defeats Jeff twice through superior strength, earning grudging respect. The story transitions into a broader wilderness saga involving hunting expeditions across prairies and mountains haunted by hostile Indians.