The White Chief: A Romance of Northern Mexico

"The White Chief," serialized in this May 1903 issue, is by Captain Mayne Reid, author of The Headless Horseman and The Scalp Hunters. The story, set in northern Mexico near San Ildefonso, centers on a festival featuring equestrian competitions. The narrative opens with a coleo de toros (bull-tailing event) where young men on horseback attempt to catch and throw a bull by its tail. Though eleven competitors fail, a striking fair-skinned young man named Carlos the cibolero, riding a black mustang and dressed in fine ranchero costume, succeeds effortlessly, twice saving spectators from a charging bull—once by felling it directly and again by lassoing it near a carreta. Carlos, whose fair-haired sister watches from a carreta alongside an elderly white-haired woman whispered to be a witch, generates admiration and speculation, particularly regarding his interaction with the wealthy Catalina de Cruces. The festivities continue with further tests of horsemanship and wagering.