Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 271

Stonefist, of Big Nugget Bend This dime novel serial by Captain Mark Wilton chronicles the arrival of Bartholomew Blake, an eccentric reformer, in the mining town of Big Nugget Bend, Colorado. Dressed in formal broadcloth and long hair, Blake mounts a box in the street to denounce the town's vices—drinking, gambling, fighting, and murder. When a local miner called Black Jake challenges him, Blake demonstrates extraordinary strength by splitting a wooden board with a single punch, earning the nickname "Stonefist." Undeterred by the crowd's mockery, Blake announces his crusade to eliminate sin from the town, targeting Jonathan's liquor saloon as particularly corrupt. As he strides toward the saloon, he encounters an attractive young woman leaving with a flask. Blake's stern moral condemnations meet her saucy indifference, and she references eccentric fellow prospectors before the narrative breaks off, establishing Blake as both a physical and moral force confronting the town's entrenched vices.