Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 517

# Buffalo Bill's First Trail

This weekly story paper, published September 19, 1888, contains the opening installment of "Buffalo Bill's First Trail" by Ned Buntline, an adventure serial set in the American West.

The narrative follows Old Jake Limbertoes, an eccentric mule-train driver, traveling with his adopted daughter Libbie toward the gold regions. At a stage and Pony Express station on the Sweetwater, young Will Cody (the future Buffalo Bill) intercepts them with a warning: an English nobleman and his hired associates—a gambler called Faro Ben and a half-breed guide—plan to abduct Libbie and claim her supposed inheritance. Cody has learned of the plot from a Pawnee woman. Jake reveals Libbie's true history: she is the adopted daughter of a dying American woman who had married a wealthy Englishman. Jake possesses documents proving Libbie's birthright and has been working to earn funds for a journey to England to claim her inheritance. The Englishman, having discovered the same truth, intends to secure both Libbie and her fortune through abduction. The serial ends as the conspirators scheme, with Cody pledging to protect the pair.