Beadle's New Dime Novels: Arkansas Kit

This 1878 Beadle and Adams Dime Novel by W.J. Hamilton presents "Arkansas Kit; or, The River Sprite's Choice," set in the Crowfoot country. The narrative begins with Dick Weston, a city-bred easterner seeking adventure, and Kit Hammond, a hardened Arkansas ranger, paddling a canoe on a western river tributary. After Dick accidentally shoots an Indian named Badger Eye while hunting deer, the two men bury him and discover a fresh scalp among his belongings—evidence he was a murderer. The chief Sangarah (called Eagle's Claw), arriving at the grave, questions them about Badger Eye's death. Despite initial tension, the chief accepts Dick's honest account of the accidental shooting, declining to pursue vengeance against the white men. The story combines frontier hunting, surprise encounters with Native Americans, and frontier violence.