The Scalp King; or, The Human Thunderbolt

About this issue

This is the first issue of Beadle and Adams' serialized fiction. The main feature is "The Human Thunderbolt: A Tale of Border Vengeance" by Capt. J.F.C. Adams (author of The Lost Hunters, Lighthouse Life, and Lightning Joe). After returning from a journey to find his wife and three children murdered and scalped by Indians, Roger Bennett swears a binding oath of absolute vengeance against all Native Americans. With his friend Dr. Guy Oliver, Bennett buries his family and prepares for a frontier manhunt. Bennett departs alone, adopting frontier garb including a scarlet sash, transformed into a zealous and nearly crazed tracker. Days into his pursuit across prairie and woodland, he discovers one of his own horses mysteriously separated from camp, offering his first tangible lead into what appears to be a calculated Indian raid.