A complete, restored issue of Pulp Fiction from 1879 — all 16 pages of painted-cover fiction magazines that launched science fiction, horror, and hardboiled crime, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1879

Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 119

1879 · Free to read

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About this issue

Mustang Sam, the King of the Plains by Jos. E. Badger, Jr., a romance of Apache life serialized in this Beadle and Adams dime novel. In Chapter I, titled "The Desert King and His Master," three plainsmen—Mustang Sam, Tom McKoun, and Ralph Weston—ambush a herd of wild mustangs at a prairie watering hole near the San Juan country. Mustang Sam becomes obsessed with capturing the black stallion leading the herd, superior even to his prized horse Comanche. Using a lasso and a brutal "bow-stall" bridle, Sam ropes and mounts the screaming, bucking stallion in a prolonged, violent struggle. Once seated, he subdues the animal through brutal force and horsemanship, driving it at full gallop across the desert toward a high rocky promontory. The narrative emphasizes the spectacular speed and endurance of both the wild stallion and Comanche, who pursues behind. The episode concludes with Sam spotting what appears to be human figures ahead among the rock formations.

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