Beadle's Dime Novels No. 127: Bald Eagle

About this issue

This issue of Beadle's Dime Novels (No. 127, July 16, 1867) contains "Bald Eagle: The Last of the Ramapaughs," a Revolutionary War romance by Mrs. Elizabeth Oakes Smith. Set in New Jersey's Ramapo Valley during the Revolution, the narrative centers on Black Dick, a vengeful outlaw whose father Claudius Smith was hanged by patriots. The story opens in Black Dick's mother's home where his wife Maggie rocks an empty cradle, then shifts to the cottage of patriot David Gurney and his golden-haired wife Dora. Black Dick and his Cowboy associates murder Gurney in a night attack, witnessed by the bound women. The Bald Eagle, chief of the local Ramapaughs tribe and ally of Washington, discovers the crime and resolves vengeance. The narrative balances domestic scenes with violent action and incorporates Native American characters into the Revolutionary conflict.