Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 72

Catalog Note *Mad Tom Western: The Texan Ranger; or, The Queen of the Prairie* by W. J. Hamilton. This frontier romance follows Mabel Dunham, the beautiful daughter of a mysterious settler on the Colorado River in Texas, whose family harbors hidden sorrows. The narrative depicts the world of Texas Rangers pursuing a horse thief, introducing the rough-spoken veteran Jack Fenway and the resentful Dick Dempsey. After witnessing a lynched horse thief displayed with an explanatory placard on the prairie, Mabel becomes lost while riding and encounters a powerful Comanche warrior. The story interweaves themes of frontier justice, romantic tension among admirers of the heroine, family secrets, and encounters with indigenous peoples in early Texas settlement.