Beadle's Pocket Novels No. 104: Scarred Eagle

About this issue

This Beadle and Adams dime novel serial, "Scarred Eagle: A Story of Lake and Shore" by Andrew Dearborn (published 1870), opens with a frontier chase across Lake Erie. The protagonist, a scarred white scout named Scarred Eagle, and his Indian companion Goodbrand—a Moravian-converted Miami warrior—flee pursuing Miami warriors in canoes. During the gunfire engagement, Scarred Eagle feigns death by diving underwater, then attacks the pursuing canoe from beneath, drowning two attackers. Goodbrand spares his Miami cousin Nookechin when the man clings to wreckage. The scouts navigate ashore under cover of darkness despite warning signals from fellow scout Ben Mace, indicating danger near the garrison. They plot strategy to evade pursuing Indians in the forest, with Goodbrand suggesting they head downriver contrary to enemy expectations.