Old Bear Paw: The Trapper King

This is a catalog of Beadle and Adams' Dime Novel publications from 1878, featuring instructional and entertainment titles alongside serialized fiction. The catalog lists numerous speaker collections (American Speaker, Comic Speaker, Elocutionist, etc.), dialogue compilations, and practical handbooks covering etiquette, letter-writing, dancing, chess, croquet, and ice-skating—all priced at ten cents. The issue's featured serial is "Old Bear-Paw," a frontier adventure by an unnamed author. Scout Lew Kelly and his companion Jehiel Filkins explore the Black Hills searching for gold and game when they encounter Gray Eagle, a wounded Blackfeet chief whose daughter Snowdrop has been abducted by Red Pine, a Sioux chief. Kelly pursues the captors, shoots Red Pine's arm, and rescues Snowdrop. Though Kelly escorts her back to her father, Snowdrop becomes infatuated with the scout. Gray Eagle requests Kelly build a signal-fire to summon his warriors for protection against potential Sioux retaliation.