The Antelope Boy

The Antelope Boy; or, Smoholler, the Medicine-Man

By George L. Aiken (Beadle and Adams, 1878). An adventure tale set on the Columbia River frontier where a surveying party, protected by twelve soldiers under Lieutenant Gardiner, prepares to enter Yakima territory. The expedition includes two cousin chain-bearers: genteel Percy Vere and comedic Percy Cute, who torments the cook Isaac Yardell and chases him with a ladle. The boys have journeyed westward seeking Percy Vere's missing father, an eccentric spiritualist and astrologer called "Professor Guy," glimpsed in a newspaper advertisement. The old hunter Gummery Glyndon, who guides the party, harbors deep hatred for Indians after Yakimas murdered his wife and daughter fifteen years prior. The narrative promises frontier conflicts, the titular antelope boy, and Smoholler the medicine-man's role in the unfolding events among the tribes.