Leather-Clad Tales of Adventure and Romance No. 38

About this issue

This August 23, 1890 issue features the serialized story "In the Sunk Lands; or, The Adventures of the X.T.C. Quartette" by Walter F. Bruns, illustrated. The adventure narrative follows four young men—Steve, Robert Cross (president of the "Ecstasy Quartette"), Joe, and Treve—who plan a hunting expedition into the swampy Sunk Lands of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. When Isaac Jimmerson, a trapper and fur trader agent, visits Roberts's hide and fur trading office seeking business, the men pitch their hunting scheme. Jimmerson describes the region's abundant game—bear, deer, wild turkeys, swamp rabbits, and fur-bearing animals—while cautioning about dangers from competing trappers who guard their claims with rifles. He offers them his shanty on Muddy Run near Maumelle Lake as a base camp, warning them to shoot trespassers who refuse to leave. The narrative provides historical context: the Sunk Lands were created by earthquakes between 1811-1813 that submerged plantations, with the Mississippi River subsequently flooding the depression. Jimmerson advises them to travel by train to Jonesboro and hire horses for the journey into territory dominated by rough hunters and trappers.