pulps
The Prairie Pirates
This issue of *The Prairie Pirates; or, The Hunter's Revenge* by Gustave Aimard, serialized in Beadle and Adams' dime novel series (No. 218), presents a frontier adventure narrative set on the Canadian River. The opening chapters depict an Apache attack on a frontier settlement. A week prior, horse thieves—including an Apache warrior and white renegades—were whipped by settlers. The Apache, brother to Chief Stanapat, swears vengeance. Stanapat coordinates a coordinated assault with renegade whites who infiltrate the village. The fort falls after a siege; the captain kills the treacherous half-breed informant and scalps the Apache before being overcome. The settlement is destroyed by fire. Subsequent chapters follow a hunting party—old Clarkson, his two sons Harry and Edward, and their Indian companion Curumilla—returning from expedition. They discover the devastated village and locate their family's remains among the ruins: Clarkson himself, his daughter (fourteen), wife, and youngest son, all killed in the attack. The narrative emphasizes frontier survival, family tragedy, and violent conflict between settlers and Native Americans.