Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 344

About this issue

This issue of the Beadle and Adams weekly presents "The Fighting Trio; or, Rattlesnake, the Tonkaway," a Texas frontier tale by Major Sam S. Hall ("Buckskin Sam"). The narrative opens on the Rio San Saba in 1859, where a wagon train led by retired soldier Major Simon La Coste travels west with his enslaved workers, household goods, and livestock. Accompanied by the grizzled one-eyed scout "Single-Eye," who warns against venturing into dangerous territory, the party encounters increasing peril. The story focuses on La Coste's beautiful sixteen-year-old daughter Lula, who becomes separated from the train while riding her white pony. She encounters a mounted party of Indigenous warriors who pursue her through timber toward the river. The narrative emphasizes Lula's terror, her pony's flight, and the chase through dense vegetation.