Hurricane Bill

# Museum Catalog Note: Hurricane Bill; or, Mustang Sam and His "Pard"

This 1874 Beadle and Adams pocket novel by Jos. E. Badger Jr. is a western romance set in Mexican territory. The narrative opens at a fiesta featuring the sport of "Colea de Toros" (bull-tailing) where spectators watch horsemen perform dangerous feats with bulls in a corral. Two American borderers—Hurricane Bill of the Cherokee Nation and Mustang Sam (the "Mad Rider")—arrive unexpectedly. Despite initial suspicion from the Mexican hosts, Don Munez welcomes them, and their reputations as former Texan scouts precede them. Isidora, a señorita, enlists Mustang Sam as her knight and gives him a scarlet ribbon. The scouts subsequently participate in the games, with Hurricane Bill wrestling a bull to the ground and Mustang Sam performing elaborate stunts, including riding a blinded bull while his intelligent black mustang Tornado assists. The narrative emphasizes frontier combat skills, horsemanship, and romantic tension alongside detailed descriptions of the protagonists' contrasting appearances and attire.