Doctor Carver, the Champion Shot

Doctor Carver, the Champion Shot by Col. Prentiss Ingraham

This dime novel serial (No. 409, 1891) presents the early life of William Frank Carver, a renowned marksman. Chapter I depicts eight-year-old Frank's family in Minnesota attacked by Crow-Sioux raiders; his mother and sister are killed as he hides. Chief Red Wing spares the boy, having been secretly helped by Frank's father years earlier when imprisoned by settlers. Frank is adopted, renamed "Lone-White-Boy," and trained in archery, horsemanship, and hide-tanning by the tribe. Chapter III shows months of difficult captivity under Red Wing's jealous wife, Music Mouth, who assigns him labor while he excels at shooting and riding. The narrative blends frontier adventure with accounts of Frank's gradual adaptation to Indian life.