Beadle's New Dime Novels, No. 49

About this issue

This is an 1870 Beadle and Adams dime novel by Oll Coomes titled Thornpath, the Trailer; or, The Perils of the Prairie. The story, set in 1820 on the Des Moines River, follows four hunters and trappers: the experienced Thornpath, the refined young Frank Harwood, the boastful Josiah Jenkins, and Egypt, a former enslaved man and skilled fiddler. While Egypt plays music from their island camp, Jenkins dances; a rifle shot from the western shore wounds Jenkins in the forehead. Recognizing a Sioux attack, Thornpath discovers their canoe has been stolen by an Indian. The men prepare to swim the river to escape, but as they begin their retreat, enemy gunfire intensifies. The narrative emphasizes frontier action, danger, and character interplay through dialogue heavy with dialect.