Beadle's Dime Library No. 779

# Museum Catalog Note

This 1893 dime novel by Captain Howard Holmes presents a Western mining-camp narrative titled "The Three King-pins of Crossbar." The plot centers on Mountain Morg, called "the Piute Pansy," a dark-faced wanderer who arrives in the mining settlement of Crossbar with undisclosed purposes. To establish himself as a legitimate member of the community, Morg purchases five shares of mining stock (the Black Rattlesnake mine) from an injured young man named Oscar, thereby becoming a "citizen" with property interests. Morg signals an unknown associate via white handkerchief from the surrounding hills. He is subsequently summoned before the mysterious "Triad"—three physically identical brothers named Leo, Lionel, and Leon who control the camp's affairs through an informal court system. The narrative explores themes of identity, property, and authority in a frontier setting, with Morg's true motivations remaining concealed as he navigates the camp's social hierarchy.