Buffalo Bill's Dead-Shot Dragoon

Buffalo Bill's Dead-Shot Dragoon Issue No. 1009 (Feb. 23, 1898) of *Beadle and Adams'* dime novel magazine features the opening serialized tale "Buffalo Bill's Dead-Shot Dragoon; or, The Hidden Home of Shadow Valley" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham. A mysterious stranger named Gabriel Grandin arrives in the frontier mining camp of Perdition City and kills outlaw Brazos Ben and several of his associates in gunfights. Buffalo Bill, a military scout investigating lawlessness, observes Grandin at the Full Hand Saloon. When professional gambler Lon Langdon hosts a high-stakes poker game, Grandin accuses miner Sam Sharp of using marked cards. To prove his assertion, Grandin proposes they play fresh hands with new cards pinned to the table as evidence. After Langdon wins decisively with clean cards, the tension peaks as Sharp prepares for a violent confrontation. Grandin pins the original deck to the table with a knife blade, deliberately nearly striking Sharp's hand, and insists on untampered cards for continuation.