Beadle's Dime Library No. 285

# Lightning Bolt, the Canyon Terror

This issue features "Lightning Bolt, the Canyon Terror; or, The Mountain Cat's Grudge" by Captain Mark Wilton, a Western adventure serial. The narrative opens with protagonist Waldo Temple confronting a wounded grizzly bear on a narrow mountain ledge in western Montana. After Temple shoots the animal, he meets veteran hunter Gaffer Golightly. The two encounter a mysterious figure—a tall, bearded man in monk-like robes riding an enormous elk across impossible terrain. Golightly identifies this as "Lightning Bolt," a legendary creature he claims uses supernatural fire-bolts as weapons, which have killed numerous settlers and Native Americans over two years. Temple remains skeptical of Golightly's supernatural explanations, suspecting the rider uses grenades rather than lightning. The men debate whether Lightning Bolt is human or demonic before heading toward the settlement of Quartz Rock along the Missouri River.