Beadle's Pocket Library No. 378

About this issue

Col. Prentiss Ingraham's serial novel "Bronco Billy, the Saddle Prince" appears in this 1891 Beadle and Adams dime novel. The story follows fifteen-year-old Billy Powell, also called Blue-Eyed Billy, a youth traveling westward in a wagon train with his mother across the Texas prairie. When the renowned mustang herder Rio Grande Bob arrives at their encampment to sell horses, Billy identifies and wishes to purchase Rio Grande Bob's prized white stallion, Mephisto—a wild animal that took Bob a year to capture and train, and which has killed previous riders who attempted to mount it. Rio Grande Bob refuses to sell the horse, but when Billy questions his courage, the Texan accepts a bet: Billy's thousand dollars against the horse, saddle, and bridle if the youth can ride the dangerous stallion bareback. The narrative combines frontier adventure with horsemanship tests, establishing Billy's exceptional nerve and skill.