Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 761

Buffalo Bill's Mascot; or, The Death Valley Victim No. 13 by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, serialized in Beadle and Adams Weekly (May 24, 1898), presents a Western adventure centered on Buffalo Bill's encounter with a mysterious hanging victim in the legendary Death Valley, Arizona. The narrative opens with Buffalo Bill venturing into the remote, feared valley—avoided by Indians, trappers, and settlers due to mysterious deaths—to investigate its sinister reputation. Finding a recently hanged man suspended from a tree, Bill rescues him and performs hours of resuscitation, eventually bringing him back from the brink of death. The grateful stranger warns Bill that the valley harbors hidden dangers and refuses to reveal his identity, insisting neither Buffalo Bill nor military forces should remain there. The story involves themes of frontier danger, mysterious villainy, and the protagonist's heroic character.