Beadle's Dime New York Library No. 860

The Spangled Sport Shadower This Western serial by Lieutenant A. K. Sims follows Talbott Vennor, a New York turquoise mine owner, who journeys to New Mexico to investigate troubles at his Barrancas Mine property. Upon arrival, he discovers an impostor claiming his identity now controls the mine. Riding toward Santa Fe, Vennor is ambushed by hooded riders who mistake him for a horse thief and sentence him to execution in the "Valley of Death." During his forced march to be shot, Vennor attempts escape and is shot, falling unconscious into a ravine just as a flash flood sweeps through. The cloudburst carries his apparently lifeless body to safety on a sandy knoll. The narrative combines frontier justice, mistaken identity, and natural disaster within a suspenseful adventure plot.