Beadle's New Dime Novels: Barden, the Ranger

About this issue

This dime novel, "Barden, the Ranger: The Flower of the Uchees," by W. J. Hamilton, presents a frontier tale set in early Georgia. The narrative opens with Andy Barden, a heavily-armed ranger, meeting Anote, daughter of the Uchee chief Echotee, at the Savannah River. Anote warns Barden of a Spanish agent named Costello operating in the region and delivers a message to Richard Musgrove, an Englishman she loves, via an inscribed ivory tablet. The encounter is interrupted by Occoonee, a jealous Uchee warrior who attempts to kill Barden with an arrow. After subduing the attacker, Barden captures Occoonee but, at Anote's request, releases him unharmed. The story involves tensions between English colonial interests, Spanish intrigue, and internal Uchee tribal conflicts during the colonial period.