Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 394

Museum Catalog Note "A Wronged Man's Red Trail" is a frontier romance serialized in this May 1886 issue of Beadle & Adams' dime novel, credited to Buffalo Bill (Hon. W. F. Cody). The narrative follows Frank Powell ("Doctor Scout"), a former Army surgeon, through the opening chapters. A dying emigrant, shot by pursuing villains, lies wounded on the prairie with his daughter Janette at his side. As wolves circle them and mysterious horsemen approach across the moonlit landscape, Janette defends her father with two revolvers. The dying man contemplates murder-suicide to spare her suffering; the girl vows vengeance against their persecutors. When three rough riders finally arrive—the very men pursuing the family—they prove merciless and intent on capturing Janette. The excerpt combines sensational frontier melodrama with suspense driven by multiple threats: predatory animals, pursuing criminals, and moral desperation.