Buffalo Bill Library No. 147: The Adventures of Mexican Joe

Catalog Note *The Adventures of Mexican Joe* is a frontier adventure serial set in pre-railroad Arizona. The narrative follows young Joe Shelley, whose family's ranch is destroyed by Apache raiders while he and the Mexican steward Pedro Sanchez are hunting. Joe pursues the captors across the Arizona-Mexico border, tracking their movements toward the Chiricahua Mountains and Gila River region. During his chase, Joe encounters Little Shorty, a deformed Indian warrior nursing a grievance: Joe and Sanchez had previously looted gold from an Apache burial mound, which Shorty seeks to recover. When Joe spares Shorty's life, the Indian takes his revenge by stealing Joe's horse. Stranded in the wilderness, Joe witnesses a skirmish between Apache warriors and Mexican brigands escorting a northbound train—possibly the raiders responsible for the ranch's destruction. Discovered by a band of Apaches, Joe engages them with his repeating rifle, killing or wounding six before fleeing into a mountain gorge with survivors pursuing him.