The Mad Horseman

This Beadle and Adams dime novel, The Mad Horseman; or, The Prairie Tournament by Edwin Emerson, is a sequel to "Dusky Darrell." Set in early 1800s Independence, Missouri—a hub for trappers and gold-rush emigrants—the story opens with the dandified Adolphus Perkins, an exquisitely dressed but rifle-carrying gentleman fresh from six months in the wilderness with a famous trapper. Disappointed at missing the latest westbound wagon train, Perkins discovers a portrait miniature of an extraordinarily beautiful young woman. A stranger leading a horse approaches and identifies himself as the rightful owner, implying romantic connection to the portrait's subject. The narrative establishes Perkins as an eccentric character whose contradictory appearance (urban dandy merged with frontier competence) creates comic tension while initiating the novel's central mystery concerning the identity and location of the depicted woman.