The Boy Ranger

Catalog Note *The Boy Ranger; or, The Heiress of the Golden Horn* by Ollie Coomes (Beadle and Adams, 1874) is a frontier adventure tale set in early Iowa. The narrative opens with seventeen-year-old Rollo, a skilled young ranger equipped with rifle, revolvers, and saber, observing Clontarf's Post from the prairie. He witnesses settlers executing the white renegade Dick Sherwood, disguised as an Indian chief, for attempting to abduct Clara Bryant. Rollo kills three attacking Sioux warriors and sounds a signal horn, summoning a war party of painted Sioux—apparently to defend the settlement during the men's absence. The narrative details Clontarf's Post's history as an early settlement founded by Lionel Clontarf, troubled by white outlaws and hostile Indians. Sherwood's execution proceeds in the forest despite his taunting remarks, as settlers debate his crimes and fate. The subtitle suggests Clara Bryant, identified as "the heiress of the golden horn," figures prominently, though her full story remains in subsequent chapters.