Beadle's Pocket Library No. 328

Big Pete's Band This issue features "Big Pete's Big Haul," a western serial by W. J. Hamilton (author of "Mad Tom Western" and "Single Hand"), presented in at least two chapters. The story follows Ethelbert Grandison, a gentleman artist, naturalist, and world-renowned traveler aged thirty, through the Rocky Mountains north of the Missouri. Accompanied by Big Pete Burns, a gruff but capable mountaineer guide, Grandison sketches landscapes while the men encounter a mysterious "Wild Man of the Hills"—a gigantic, hair-covered creature wielding a club that appears in the canyon region. According to Pete's accounts, this being kills men, particularly those of questionable character. The narrative includes extensive landscape description celebrating American mountain scenery. When Grandison and Pete return to camp, they discover a dead Mexican ("Greaser") killed by the creature and give him a makeshift burial. At camp they find Featherby, an Englishman in shooting costume, whose careless campfire has drawn criticism for the danger it poses in dangerous territory.