After much delay we will look into the somewhat bizarre world of Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road, or The Black Rider of the Black Hills. Again, it is important to remember that this tale was written in 1877, barely a year after the Deadwood gold rush began.
Edward Wheeler no doubt read other sensationalistic write-ups of the Old West and the colorful characters who populated the region, but he did not let any factual data get in the way of his story. Deadwood Dick is the story of a handful of settlers, gold-seekers, and general ne'er-do-wells who all come together in a small area of the Black Hills to determine their respective fates.
First we meet Fearless Frank, a strapping youth who saves a damsel in distress named Alice Terry from Sitting Bull and his band of warriors. As it turns out, Fearless Frank once saved Sitting Bull's life and so the two are old friends. All it took to secure the release of the lovely Miss Terry was a handshake. One side note; Fearless Frank travels the West in buckskins dyed to a scarlet hue. One can only wonder what other Western ruffians might have said behind his back.
We also meet early on The "General", a crusty old curmudgeon named Geoffrey Walsingham Nix. The "General" was "a little, deformed old man; hump-backed, bow-legged, and white haired, with cross eyes, a large mouth, a big head set on a slim, crane-like neck, blue eyes, and an immense brown beard, that flowed downward half-way to his belt about his waist." The "General," as we learn later, had the unique and very valuable ability to see the location of gold mines in his dreams. All it took to kick this gift into gear was enough opium to send Geoffrey Walsingham Nix into dreamland.
Harry Redburn is the next player in the drama. Redburn is a naive Easterner who we first meet in a crooked card game in Deadwood. Redburn (whose last name mysteriously changes to "Blackburn" at one point in the novel) is saved from a card sharp by another strapping young man, a fellow we will first know as Ned Harris. Redburn and Harris narrowly escape after a shootout with the gamblers with the aid of one Calamity Jane. They make their way to a hidden canyon called the "Flower Pocket" where Ned Harris has built a cabin. At the cabin we first meet "sweet, sad-faced Anita", the sister of Ned Harris.
Finally, we meet Deadwood Dick, the masked, black-buckskin clad scourge of the Black Hills. Deadwood Dick is first seen gunning down a man foolish enough to offer a $500 reward for his apprehension. We also learn that the Dick, the Black Rider of the Black Hills, is only between 16 and 20 years of age. Young people were evidently tough in those days.
Next, The Plot of the Story, or This Thing Has Enough Twists and Turns to Make M. Night Shyamalan Jealous.
