The War Trail; or, The Hunt of the Wild Horse

Museum Catalog Note This issue of Beadle & Adams' popular edition (Vol. XVII, November 22, 1882) features the opening of Captain Mayne Reid's "The War Trail; or, The Hunt of the Wild Horse." The serial begins with the narrator, a captain of American Rangers, observing a Mexican frontier village on the Rio Bravo from the alcalde's rooftop. Reid provides extensive ethnographic description of the Rangers—a heterogeneous force of backwoods hunters, Texans, and adventurers from various American regions and European nations, characterized by their varied weapons and motley costumes. The narrative introduces a military situation: the Rangers are dispatched to guard the village against Comanche raids while occupying Mexican territory. The first dramatic action involves the pursuit of a young Mexican horseman on a cream-colored mustang, whom the captain pursues rather than shoot, viewing him as "game too noble" to be killed. The chase leads through milpas toward a maguey hedge barrier.