Killbar, the Guide; or, Davy Crockett's Crooked Trail

This issue, dated August 29, 1882, contains "Killb'ar, the Guide: Davy Crockett's Crooked Trail," by Ensign Charles Dudley Warren. The serialized frontier adventure follows Killb'ar, a boisterous hunter captured by Cherokee warriors in Georgia. After falling from a tree, he engages the Indians in demonstrations of marksmanship and knife-throwing, displaying considerable skill and verbal bravado. The young Cherokee warrior Omoski, eager to locate and fight the legendary "Red Bear"—David Crockett himself—agrees to use Killb'ar as his guide, obtaining seven days to complete this quest before a forthcoming battle with white forces. The narrative depicts Killb'ar's journey with Omoski through dangerous territory, with comic dialogue emphasizing the hunter's colorful dialect and exaggerated exploits, while developing romantic tension between Omoski and the Cherokee maiden Minniho.