Wenona, the Giant Chief

This issue of Wenona, the Giant Chief: The Forest Flower by W. J. Hamilton (1878) is a frontier adventure narrative set during the French and Indian War. The story opens with Major Thomas Osborne's scout, the experienced frontiersman Daniel Ellis ("Scouting Dan"), and his companion Cesar, a fearful enslaved Black man, hiding in bushes near a clearing where St. Regis Indians—allied with French forces—have gathered in war-paint. The narrative reveals tensions within the Indian group regarding their leader Wenona, the "Giant Chief," whose sympathy toward white settlers troubles the more bloodthirsty warriors like "Great Snake." When Scouting Dan is discovered and captured after killing the warrior Annowah, he is bound to a sapling and subjected to threats of torture. The text emphasizes Dan's fearlessness and quick wit despite captivity, while Tom Osborne watches from hiding, planning intervention.