Beadle's Dime Novels No. 239: Old Zip

About this issue

This issue contains two serialized stories from Beadle's Dime Novels. The first, "Swiftwing; or, The Phantom Warriors" by Edward Willett, concerns a band of Delawares led by a female warrior—described as a "Red Queen"—inhabiting a canyon from which they conduct raids against the Sioux and Blackfeet. A young borderman and Delaware guide, driven from an emigrant camp, take refuge there, leading to conflicts involving these rival tribes. The second story, "Old Zip; or, The Cabin in the Air" by "Bruin" Adams, is set during the 1862 Sioux massacres in Minnesota. Percy Fitzsimmons, a fashionably dressed Philadelphian, arrives at his uncle's remote homestead for vacation and goes hunting with his uncle's rifle. He mistakes experienced frontier hunter Zip Smith for an Indian and fires at him twice, narrowly missing. Zip warns Percy of imminent Sioux danger in the region and advises the family to relocate to the settlement for safety.