Beadle's Half Dime Library

Yellowstone Jack; Or, Trappers of the Enchanted Ground This serialized western adventure by Joseph E. Badger opens amid a harrowing disaster in the Shicha-chetish pass. An emigrant wagon train encounters a sudden, catastrophic storm called the "pouderee"—a violent tornado with snow, hail, and rockfall. Five prairie schooners and a light spring wagon struggle to escape. When young Frank Maynard pursues the runaway democrat wagon carrying Ada Dixon and the beloved Minnie Warren through the narrowing pass, he faces an impossible chase against both the storm and terrain. As the vehicle hurtles toward what appears to be a ravine hidden by tree-tops, Maynard attempts desperately to prevent disaster, but his revolver misfires. The narrative cuts away as the animals plunge toward death. Chapter II begins cryptically with "The dogs are h[owling]."