The White Chief: A Romance of Northern Mexico

"The White Chief," serialized in this May 1903 issue, is by Captain Mayne Reid, author of *The Headless Horseman* and *The Scalp Hunters*. The story, set in northern Mexico near San Ildefonso, centers on a festival featuring equestrian competitions. The narrative opens with a *coleo de toros* (bull-tailing event) where young men on horseback attempt to catch and throw a bull by its tail. Though eleven competitors fail, a striking fair-skinned young man named Carlos the cibolero, riding a black mustang and dressed in fine ranchero costume, succeeds effortlessly, twice saving spectators from a charging bull—once by felling it directly and again by lassoing it near a carreta. Carlos, whose fair-haired sister watches from a carreta alongside an elderly white-haired woman whispered to be a witch, generates admiration and speculation, particularly regarding his interaction with the wealthy Catalina de Cruces. The festivities continue with further tests of horsemanship and wagering.