The Ranch King Dead-Shot; or, Texas Jack's Proxy

# The Ranch King Dead-Shots; or, Texas Jack's Proxy

By "Buffalo Bill" (Col. William F. Cody), published by Beadle and Adams in 1896, this serial western concerns frontier conflicts in Texas along the Rio Grande. The story opens with Texas Jack, chief scout at Fort Blanco, shot from ambush by a Mexican assailant; Buckskin Sam (Major Sam S. Hall) intervenes, driving off the would-be killer and rescuing the wounded Jack. Sam carries the injured scout five miles to the fort's hospital.

The narrative establishes romantic and political tensions: two Mexican gentlemen of rank, the honorable Colonel Miguel Sandos and the mysterious Don Marlo Fuentes ("Ranchero King"), both court Estelle Elwood, the commandant's daughter. Meanwhile, Colonel Elwood engages Buckskin Sam to help track fugitive Mexican outlaws fleeing northward, particularly the assassin who fired on Jack, who may suffer brain fever from his wounds.