The B'ar Killer

About this issue

This 1873 Beadle and Adams dime novel, The B'ar-Killer; or, The Long Trail by Capt. Comstock, presents a frontier adventure centered on the eponymous protagonist Killb'ar, a backwoods hunter with exaggerated boastfulness. Captured by Cherokee Indians led by Chief Comigo, Killb'ar escapes execution by offering to guide Omoski, the chief's ambitious son, in pursuit of "the Red B'ar"—the celebrated David Crockett. A weapons competition demonstrates Omoski's superior skill with tomahawk and knife; Killb'ar's attempts end in comical failure and deflection. Minniho, a young Cherokee woman and Omoski's beloved, gifted him amber beads before his departure. The chief conditions Omoski's hunt on his return before an impending battle with whites. The narrative follows their westward journey into the forest, with Killb'ar establishing the tone through tall tales, crude humor, and dialect-heavy dialogue typical of the period's frontier fiction.