Dime Novel Heroines in early American popular culture set the stage for later fictional female adventurers, yet little has been written about them. Even less can be found on the internet. This article include 16 snapshots of some of the most noteworthy adventure-oriented heroines who populated popular fiction in the United States during the mid-to-late 1800s.

But first a bit of background. Dime novels exploded on the scene in the United States in 1860. They clearly met a need for everyday Americans to find exciting reading material that was more readily available and action packed. Dime novels were also significantly cheaper than hard cover novels, which might cost thirty cents or more. Readers across the United States could readily purchase them–in urban centers at newsstands and in rural areas via mail order catalogs which featured “libraries” of titles to chose from.

The vast majority of dime novels featured male heroes and those targeted towards female readers tended to focus on romance. As will be seen, though, there were also a good number of action-oriented female characters, most of whom are virtually unknown today.

No less than six of these dime novel heroines are the creation of Edward Lytton Wheeler who described himself as a “sensational novelist.” In addition to his hallmark anti-hero Deadwood Dick, he created Hurricane Nell, Denver Doll, Baltimore Bess, New York Nell, Cinnamon Chip, and the fictional iteration of Calamity Jane. The author/creator of two other characters were women, Mary A. Denison (Captain Molly) and Metta Victoria Fuller Victor (Maum Guinea).

I hope you enjoy reading about these dime novel heroines as much as I did researching them! While the gendered and racial portrayals in these stories can be wince-worthy, they also present some intriguing ones as well. All of the images featured here are from the covers of these dime novels–there were no interior illustrations–and they as well as the texts themselves are in the public domain.

If you’re interesting in actually reading some of these dime novels, amazingly enough, almost all of them are available via university library scans online. Visit the amazing resource, the Dime Novel Bibliography to find the stories you might like to read. Most of the dime novels available through that resource have been scanned by the North Illinois University Libraries. Their excellent website Nickels and Dimes, also devoted to dime novels, is worth visiting as well.

FANNY CAMPBELL (1844)

The novel Fanny Campbell was actually published as a conventional hard cover book in 1844, more than a decade before the first dime novel appeared. But in style and substance it presaged the dime novel style. And in later years was a rare hard cover book that was actually republished in the dime novel format.

Fanny Campbell, the heroine, is a recently engaged young woman living in Massachusetts in the years just before the American revolution. When her sailor fiancé William Lovell is captured by the British, she dons masculine disguise to rescue him and his crewmen. Now going by the name Channing, Fanny signs on a crew member of the British vessel.

Once onboard, Fanny cleverly fosters a mutiny and takes command of the crew, who thereafter function as a band of pirates. Her fiancé, who she asks not to reveal her true gender, is now under Fanny’s command. Under her leadership the crew proceed to do battle with and capture an additional British vessel. More adventures take place in Cuba before the pair return to the States where the American government commission them to serve as private naval operatives.

But conventionally gendered dynamics take hold after Fanny and William’s marriage. Her husband continues to fight the good fight during the Revolutionary War while she remains in Massachusetts to take care of the children who quickly followed after their union. A degree of subversive agency remains as the narrative informs the reader that Fanny continues to engage in marksmanship and sailing, and keeps her cutlass at the ready, just in case.

The story of Fanny Campbell was authored by Maturin Murray Ballou, writing as Lieutenant Murray. It was an immediate hit, selling some 80,000 copies in its first few months of publication. Originally selling for 25 cents, it was reissued as a dime novel in 1871. The character paved the way for the adventurous and often cross-dressing dime novel heroines that would begin to appear in the 1860s and thereafter.

MAUM GUINEA (1861)

Maum Guinea was the dime novel equivalent to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a story by a white author designed to foster sympathy for the negative impact of slavery in America, without explicitly taking a stand against it and trafficking in some of the terrible stereotypes of the era. But Maum Guinea, as a dime novel heroine, deserves some attention as a rare Black character of the period who displays agency and receives sympathetic if often less than ideal treatment.

Upon her first appearance in the narrative, in the weeks before Christmas, Maum Guinea is having none of the expected holiday cheer. She is described as “a tall, good-looking person … stern, even commanding in appearance, with a strange look in her eyes which might be sadness or might be hate, or both–nobody could read it.” Maum Guinea, or Ginny as she is also known, is the social and spiritual leader of Black slaves living in her near environs of Louisiana. She is also well liked by the white slave-owning families in the area. “Maum Guinea’s advice was law with house-servants and field-hands,” the narrative details. “They came to her with their joys and troubles, and she gave them a kind of wise sympathy, asking none in return for her own cares, if she had any.” (pp. 11-12)

Indeed, Maum Guinea’s own background is largely unknown to those who know her. Of mixed race, Maum Guinea was purchased as a slave six years earlier in New Orleans, to serve as a replacement for the family cook who had grown infirm. To the Black folk whose depended on her advice “she was an object of mystery … Her moody silence in the midst of their thoughtless gayety, her ability to keep her own counsel, the gloomy fire of her eyes, awakened their awe, while her gentleness to the sick, her skill in nursing, her accomplishments in cooking, and the many favors she contrived to do them all, inspired their affection.” (p. 11)

Maum Guinea was too aware of the price her people paid under the mantle of slavery to project an oblivious demeanor.

Among those Maum Guinea takes under her wing are two mixed-race slaves named Hyperion and Rose who are in love with one another. Hyperion functions as a valet to the white slave-owner Philip Fairfax and Rose as a domestic servant to Virginia Bell. When Virginia Bell falls into debt, he opts to sell Rose to the nefarious Mr. Talferro who lusts after the young woman. Hyperion and Rose go on the run, accompanied by Maum Guinea. It is during their flight that Ginny tells the pair the story of her life.

It emerges that our heroine has a daughter named Judy, the result of a forced relationship with a white man. Any child of an enslaved woman is deemed a slave. But given her particular heritage, Ginny knows her daughter could pass for white. Unbeknownst to her “owner,” Ginny has saved money through a side business of selling vegetables during stolen moments. When her daughter is put up for sale as an adolescent, Ginny has enough money to outbid any of the white men present, “purchasing” her daughter and then setting her free. The daughter moves up North, marrying a white man named Captain Ephraim Slocum, who knows her secret and vows to keep it, the couple giving birth to children of which Ginny has no knowledge. Other tales reveal further awful consequences of slavery as well as Maum Guinea’s grit and fortitude.

Too many complications ensue to be detailed in this short summary. The story ends when Ephraim Slocum appears in Louisiana to purchase Maum Guinea in order to set her free. And Slocum invites Ginny to join her daughter and their children being set free, who now can join her daughter up north, but who must still keep her connection to her grandchildren a secret to the public. Rose’s jeopardy is also resolved and Hyperion and Rose are able to marry, still slaves but no longer in apparent danger. The novel ends on a note undercutting all that has gone before. “Mr. and Mrs. Fairfax brought their valet and waiting-maid with them to the North; they felt secure in the strong ties of gratitude which bound the couple to their service–the laughing, brilliant, animated couple married the same night as themselves … who had no farther thought of deserting hose who had made life to them now seem like a long Christmas holiday.” (p. 215)

The author, Metta Victoria Fuller Victor, declared in a carefully worded introduction that while “the several slave stories given are veritable historical transcripts … Maum Guinea has not been written to subserve any special social or political purpose” (p. iv). In a Master’s thesis devoted to analysis of the novel, Connie Beeler argues that Victor attempted to subvert the resistance of readers not ready to condemn slavery by presenting the horrors of the practice for their open consideration. Whatever its original intentions, Maum Guinea was widely read at the time, and was republished in 1862 and 1876.

CAPTAIN MOLLY (1866)

Captain Molly is the nickname Molly Putnam was given by grateful men for her taking on a dangerous mission during the Revolutionary War

Unlike some other fictional heroines in subsequent years, Molly didn’t display unconventional attributes of gender. The dime novel emphasizes her relative ordinariness. “She was not beautiful, this Molly Putnam, but a right cheery pink blossom-cheeked damsel, a farmer’s bonny daughter.” (p. 15)

Molly is drawn into her adventurous role even as she is buffeted by conflicting loyalties. She works as a maid and companion to Lady Walsingham, a woman loyal to the crown, and her father is a Tory. But the man Molly loves is a rebel, captain in General Washington’s army. Ultimately she vows to discover the welfare of her best friend’s lover, a man imprisoned by British forces.

“Yes, I’m to become a heroine,” Molly jokes ruefully to her friend, “if I die for it.” (p. 31)

Complications ensue and Molly does indeed find herself in peril. But her efforts help the American cause and General Washington is thankful for it. Molly marries her handsome captain after having been cast off by her father. The story concludes neatly, as the genre requires.

“The sobriquet of captain always clung to her,” the narrative informs the reader, “and it is said Washington really conferred the title, in consequence of her bravery, when she accompanied her husband some time afterward.” Perhaps Molly enjoyed some further adventures even after marriage.

Captain Molly: Or, The Fight at Trenton, 1776 was written by Mary A. Denison. The novel was republished in 1881 and again in 1889. .

BESS the Female Trapper (1869)

As may be increasingly apparent, dime novel writers could turn invert the gender of any popular male character type and write a story combining the conventions of that genre with the complications of a female cast in the heroic role. Bess the Trapper was a case in point.

Bess the Trapper was an adventurer in the great Northwest, not too great a divergence from the frontier tales. Stories of male trappers were relatively less common and so as far as the known regard details Bess is the the only known female trapper to have a lead role in a dime novel.

In the Bess the Female Trapper dime novel, Bess is described as being a captive of the Apache people and only twelve years of age, “with a finely worked Apache shawl gathered about her. Her long black hair streaming over her shoulders , might have been taken for that of an Indian; but the clear white skin was unmistakably that of a Caucasian.”

Given her youth, Bess didn’t engage in the action of some of these other dime novel heroines but she was courageous and resolute of character. She seemed to possess a special rapport with the animals she ultimately trapped, the narrative declaring “she had some secret by which she attracted the timed and sagacious animals.

For a time, the author toyed with the reader, leading them to believe Bess unknown father was part Mexican and part Apache. But in a typical dime novel twist it turns out that her name is actually Alfrina Jarilla and she is the long lost daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Mexico, with whom she is happily reunited.

Bess, the Female Trapper. A Tale of the Far Southwest was written by Edward Sylvester Ellis. Particularly popular, the novel was reissued no less than five times in 1874, 1879, 1884, 1885, and 1903.

DOVE-EYE (1870)

Dove-eye is one of the first action-oriented heroines of the dime novel era, ostensibly an Indian woman of considerable fierceness. And while the novel cover illustration showed her shooting a rifle, the text inside revealed her preferred weapon was a battle-ax!

The description of her as she first appears in the narrative sets the stage: “She was riding man-fashion, as a warrior must. She was richly attired in the Indian style; her hear was crowned with a plume of painted feathers, and her saddle was a panther skin. She rode a splendid coal black horse, and carried a battle-ax in her right hand. Her hair, unlike the coarse and straight locks of the rest of her tribe, was wavy and inclined to curl; her complexion was a rich olive, instead of a copper color; and she had not the high cheek-bones peculiar to the Indian race. With her cheeks guiltless of paint, glowing with excitement, and her eyes flashing, she was beautiful indeed.”

Nearly from the start, the author leads the reader to suspect Dove-eye might be a half-breed. Her romance with the heroic Silverspur, the white man whose name headlined the dime novel, was still titillating and cause for disapproval by his father, until Dove-eye saved him on two different occasions. For a time, the shocking twist appeared to be that Dove-eye was the daughter of the main villain of the piece, but in the rather convoluted final paragraphs of the tale she is revealed to the be the “all white” Kate Robinette. Dove-eye’s white sister is nonetheless the wife of an Indian chief in a mild nod to the possibility of interracial romance.

The racial dynamics of the Silverspur dime novel were both troubling and occasionally intriguing in more ways than one. Dove-eye’s surrogate father among the Arapahos was Big Medicine, an elderly medicine man who treated her well but who dies early on. Big Medicine’s “servant” was a Black man named Jose, who was enslaved by the tribe in Texas and who was devoted to Dove-eye. He is badly beaten by Silas Wormly, a sinister trapper, and only reluctantly reveals damning details that threaten Dove-eye’s status in the tribe.

The intriguing aspect of all of that is when Jose hunts down Wormly, and badly thrashes him in turn. When another white man comes upon the scene, Wormly pleads for his assisting, noting that the Black man has been beating him for over half an hour.

“Are ye right shure it’s been more’n half an hour?” the white stranger replies, actually a friend of Dove-eye and Jose. “Do ye kerry a watch, stranger?”

“The exact time is a matter of no consequence,” Wormly complains, pitifully. “Don’t you mean to stop him?”

Apparently not, as Jose continues to dish out his vengeance. First for himself, as he explains, and now for Dove-eye.

In the final details of her parentage, the heroine provides the template for a popular trope in Western fiction for many decades to come, that of the “White Indian heroine.” White men raised by Indians and adopting their ways were already common. She and Silverspur are married and adopt a respectable domesticity in St. Louis.

Dove-eye was a featured character in Silverspur; Or, The Mountain Heroine. A Tale of the Arapaho Country. The dime novel, which was written by Edward Willet, was reprinted in 1879, 1886, and 1892.

KEETSEA (1871)

Keetsea is a rare Native American heroine of the era treated sympathetically, even as she demonstrates a feisty spirit and willingness to take violent action when necessary.

In her first appearance in the narrative, it is revealed that Keetsea, a Comanche woman, has been a captive of a rival tribe. She is “dressed in the ordinary costume of a Comanche girl. Her hair, as usual, was short and uncovered, while a kind of down or tunic of elk-skin reached from the neck to her feet, confined to her waist by a thong. Elk-teeth and some peculiar fringe were lavishly bestowed up this simple garment, which, with moccasins, formed her whole attire. Calm and self-possessed, but yet modest and retiring, the Indian girl was led into the center of the group.” (p. 6)

It emerges that Keetsea is to be returned to her people, but as a bridal peace offering made by the rival tribe. In her anger over being used as a bargaining chip rather than being rescued, Keetsea proves to be anything but retiring.

Keetsea accuses the Comanche men gathered there of cowardice. Keetsea declares that she wants to show her captors that, “if the Commanche men have become women, the girls have become men. Keetsea accepts the price (of this bargain), but let her wed a man who can conquer her. Give Keetsea a fleet horse and a start to yonder forest,” and Keetsea agrees that she will marry any man who is able to subdue her.

No man is able to do so, and several pay the price for attempting it. She even tries to kill a white man named Mainwaring who is innocent of such intentions. In the process, she falls in love with a Comanche man of character named Young Buffalo.

At the conclusion of the story, Keetsea adopts an orphaned child and marries her Comanche admirer, and is now referred to in the narrative as Madame Buffalo. Mainwaring finds love as well. The white and Indian couples become good friends, “though the husband of the former often twitted the fair Comanche girl of her vehement desire to end his days.” (p. 31)

Keetsea, Queen of the Plains; Or, The Enchanted Rock was written by Percy St. John, a pen name of Francis Worcester Doughty. It enjoyed reprints in 1874, 1881, and 1886.

The JAGUAR QUEEN (1872)

With the Jaguar Queen, we find a character who walks the fine line between heroine and villain. She is a truly intriguing character.

In her first appearance in the narrative, the commanding young woman intervenes to calm Gerald Leigh, an unsuspecting visitor to her family’s residence where he happens upon a shadow of jaguars “straining and tugging at their chains and roaring furiously.”

We see the Jaguar Queen through Leigh’s eyes. “The door is flung open, and a tall, magnificently framed girl, dressed ins some strange, picturesque style he had never seen, rushed out, with a long whip in her hand…

“‘Down, brutes, down,” she cried. And to Leigh’s amazement, the beasts “slunk back … growling and grumbling, it is true, but still submissive to a single girl.” (p. 18)

Born Katrina Hartstein and standing nearly six feet tall, the Jaguar Queen is the oldest daughter of a German family of over two dozen children. The older sons are even taller, powerfully built, anyone of them Leigh’s physical superior. A romantic triangle of sorts soon emerges between Gerald, Katrina and the more conventionally feminine Blanche Heyward. When Blanche is held captive, Katrina’s better angels emerge. She appears at the precise moment that Leigh, the Hartsteins and Blanche’s father are being overwhelmed by the forces of the girl’s captor, the sinister Black Panther.

“But then, all of a sudden, came the gallop of a horse, and a fresh figure made its appearance on the scene. It was Katrina Hartstein.

“The roar and the snarl of the jaguars was fearful to hear, as they leaped into the fray despite the lights and noise, cheered on by their mistress. On the same charger with Katrina, clinging close to her, was the slender form of Blanche Heyward, white and delicate. Then noble German girl was protecting her rival, and bearing her to Gerald’s side.” (p. 96)

Katrina’s heroic actions save the day but she is slain in the process. The character is apparently too assertive to survive the perceived requirements of popular fiction. It is Gerald and Blanche who are rewarded their happy ending and soon are married. But they name their daughter Katrina and the narrative assures us that “Blanche Leigh is never jealous of her husband’s undying love and reverence for the devoted girl who saved his wife…” (p. 102).

The Jaguar Queen was written by Frederick Whittaker and enjoyed an additional edition in 1877.

RUBY ROLAND, Girl Spy (1877)

Ruby Roland was one of several dime novel heroines operating during America’s Revolutionary War.

Upon her first appearance in the narrative, Ruby meets Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton who are immediately struck both by her melodious voice and her striking appearance.

“The girl was a little creature of some seventeen summers,” the narrative details, “with a dark, foreign-looking face, very pretty, lighted with black eyes, and set off with black hair, arranged in two long plaits. She was attired in the costume of an Indian chief’s daughter, of the richest materials in use among the Shawnees, and carried with her a bow and arrows.” (p. 20)

Ruby is immediately direct in her speech, however pleasant. “I warn you that a deadly peril is round us all three, which you can only escape by leaving me to face it alone. Will you do that?”

Boone and Kenton, of course, decline. Accepting their wish to join her efforts, Ruby explains how it is she speaks English so well, albeit with a slight French accent.

Tabac, the chief of Wabash, was not her biological father, she explains. “No, alas ! he died when I was a baby. But, I have been adopted by the chief since then, and my mother reigned over all the tribes of the Wabash till her death, last year.” (pp. 21-22)

It emerges Ruby had the two men in her sites without them even knowing it. “Had you been Shawnee,” she explains, “both would have been dead long ere this.” (pp. 22-23)

Ruby seeks to meet with the American captain George Rogers Clark in order to solidify an alliance with the Wabash against the British and their allies, the Shawnee. It is only upon meeting Clark, “a handsome and distinguished look man of about twenty-five … (with) a peculiar air of intelligence and resolution,” that her romantic interest is also piqued.

Ruby’s help in the ensuing adventure is invaluable. In the meantime, for a variety of reasons too complicated to detail here, she is both drawn to Clark and yet unwilling to respond to his affections once they have succeeded in thwarting the British. Impulsively she grabs a nearby sword.

“Now sir, kill me if you dare,” Ruby challenges. “Let me see you face Ruby. Go away.”

Clark approaches nonetheless. “”If you do not love me, what do you have with me, alone, at midnight?”

The captain embraces her. “Let me go, Clark, and I’ll never tease you again.”

“Not until you have promised to marry me tomorrow.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

Despite the unfortunate “no” means “yes” meme, hours of pleasant time together before the postponed marriage prove the match is mutual. In the conventions of the genre, then as often now, their marriage marks the end of their story. (p. 101)

Ruby Roland, the Girl Spy; or, Simon Kenton’s Protege was written by Frederick Whittaker, who also wrote The Jaguar Queen. The novel was reissued once in 1880.

HURRICANE NELL (1877)

One of the more notable dime novel heroines, Hurricane Nell has a unique origin story. When Nelly Allen was just a girl, she was forced out of her home by outlaws seeking their family’s property, even as her parents were dying of smallpox. The adolescent girls vow of vengeance will be familiar to the readers of popular fiction of any era.

“Girl though I am,” she cries out, “I will sweep like a hurricane into the robbers’ ranks and take a life for every word that the desperado chief uttered ten hours ago! I swear it before high heaven. I swear it!

Five years later finds her dressed as boy, tough as nails, and a dead-shot with a rifle, but also decidedly beautiful as well.

Readers are introduced with a full-throated description of the now grown-up Nell. “(She) was of medium hight, with a form of exquisite contour, that was attired in a close-fitting suit of buckskin, tastefully fringed and ornamented with Indian beads, which all the more enhanced the beauty of the supple body.” Her face was “browned to a nut hue” from wind and sun, her eyes “black as a raven’s wing,” and her hair “a wave of dark chestnut … that hung in a luxuriant mass upon her shoulders.” (p. 6)

Wheeler offers up an evocative picture of the boy-girl who is described being able to “outrun, out-ride, out-shoot, out-lasso, and out-yell” any man in the area.

As she explains to Cecil Burnett, a handsome lawyer from Philadelphia who has hired her as his guide, “I fear nothing of late years. My life is one of constant peril, and, strange as it may seem, sir, the greater the danger, and the more exciting the adventure, I glory the more in it. You will doubtless think me a wild and strange creature, without a heart of a woman’s instinct, but I cannot help it.”

But Cecil thinks no such thing, peering “unconsciously into her expressive eyes, until she was forced to drop them, and a crimson flush mantled her forehead.” (p. 7)

Nell later rescues Cecil by literally picking him up and lifting him onto her horse at a fast gallop. The two end up married in a brief coda at the story’s conclusion, where Cecil lives with “his beauteous wife, who in former days was widely known as Hurricane Nell.” (p. 31)

Once again, marriage seemed to signal the end of a woman’s adventures, however daring she might be.

Hurricane Nell, the Girl Dead-Shot; Or, The Queen of the Saddle and Lasso is the first dime novel written by Edward L. Wheeler and appeared in later editions in 1878, 1884, and 1899. Wheeler who would go on to create Deadwood Dick, one of the most popular Western heroes of the era, along with his frequent companion, the indominable Calamity Jane.

CALAMITY JANE (1877)

An actual historical figure, Calamity Jane was born Martha Jane Canary in 1852, a celebrity in various Western shows. But her claim to fame in the world of dime novels was as the romantic interest in many of the Deadwood Dick series of stories. Deadwood Dick, written by Edward L. Wheeler, became one of the most popular of the dime novel heroes, though he received a decided push by the publisher of his stories.

The foremost publisher of dime novels, Irwin Beadle decided to have an ongoing series of novels devoted to a single character, an innovative move, and Wheeler was tapped to write him. Being a regular figure in the Deadwood Dick series was no small matter during this era. Calamity Jane may have been the first real life woman to become a popular “fictional” heroine, but she would not be the last.

When she appears in the first novel of the series, Deadwood Dick, the Prince of the Road or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills, Calamity Jane is described as having long black hair, “of medium hight and symmetrically built; dressed in a carefully tanned costume of buck-skin, the vest being fringed with the fur of the mink; wearing a jaunty Spanish sombrero; boots on the dainty feet of patent leather, with tops reaching to the knees … eyes black and piercing; mouth firm and resolute. and devoid of sensual expression.” Her birth name was Jennie Forrest (further differentiating her from the real-life Calamity Jane) and though born to a good family, she clearly had lived a challenging life.

Another main character, Ned Harris, details her formidable accomplishments to another fellow struck by her appearance: “(Calamity Jane) can ride like the wind, shoot like a sharpshooter, and swear like a trooper. Is here, there and everywhere, seemingly all at one time. Owns this coop and two or three other lots in Deadwood, a herding ranch in Laramie, an interest in a paying placer claim near Elizabeth City, and the Lord only knows how much more.” (pp. 21-22)

When the other man assumes Jane must be debauched, Ned defends her. “She was ruined,” he explains with sudden intensity, “and set adrift upon the world, homeless and friendless, yet she has bravely fought her way through the storm … True, she may not now have a heart; that was trampled upon years ago, but her character has not suffered blemish since a foul wretch stole away her honor.” (p. 22)

The violation is implied. Calamity Jane is an inspiring survivor. It is Deadwood Dick who is the 19th century version of a sex symbol, lovingly described by Wheeler who demonstrates a decided appreciation for the male form, a tendency other of his novels would confirm.

Deadwood Dick, a masked outlaw, was a youth between the ages of 16 and 20, “trim and compactly built, with a preponderance of muscular development and animal spirits; broad and deep of chest, with square, iron-cast shoulders; limbs small yet like bars of steel, and with a grace of posture in the saddle rarely equaled; he made a fine picture for an artist’s brush or a poet’s pen.” And if that was not enough, Wheeler added that “his form was clothed in a tight-fitting habit of buck-skin, which was colored a jetty black.” (p. 8)

By the end of the novel, Dick (who turns out to be Ned Harris behind his mask), proposes marriage to two different women. First to the more conventionally gendered Alice Terry, who turns him down because she is love with Redburn. And not long after to Calamity Jane, whose real name–the reader has learned is .

“Our spirits and general temperament agree,” Dick proclaims atop his horse. “Will you marry me and become my queen?”

Jane turns him down, haughtily and sternly. “I have had all the man I care for. We can be friends, Dick; more we can never be!” (p. 94)

Both characters were left free for many subsequent adventures, both characters a popular success.

Wheeler was very fond of writing about boyish heroines as will be seen. Calamity Jane will appear in some thirty of the dozens of Deadwood Dick stories. In Deadwood Dick and the Deck, or Calamity Jane of the Whoop-Up, Jane is joined by two other boyish women, Dusty Dick whose masculine disguise fools men but not women and Madame Minnie, who owned the local gambling-den and dance-hall and was beautiful and tough as nails. Dusty Dick, or Edna Sutton ends up marrying the secondary hero of the story and Madame Minnie is suspected of killing the main villain and gets away with it!

Deadwood Dick and Calamity Jane are sometimes allies and sometimes adversaries, but there is always a hint of potential romance in the air. In 1881, in Deadwood Dick’s Doom; or, Calamity Jane’s Last Adventure, the two are married as story’s end. As the title suggests and the genre apparently demands, marriage spelled the end of Jane’s active adventuring.

Not long after, Jane gives birth to a son who will grow up to be known as Deadwood Dick, Jr. and assume the starring role his father had held for so long. Intriguingly, Wheeler wrote the final adventure of the parents in 1885, in Deadwood Dick’s Dust; or, The Chained Hand, in which the final fate of both Dick and Jane is detailed. Remarkably, the two are portrayed being hung side-by-side for their crimes! Wheeler himself was dead within a year. Was Wheeler aware of his impending death and decided to end the lives of his two greatest creations? The absolute answer to that question will likely never be known but might make for a compelling story someday all its own. As with the various other novels discussed here, the stories featuring Calamity Jane enjoyed multiple reprintings.

BALTIMORE BESS (1879)

No, that is not an image of Baltimore Bess to your left. Unfortunately, there are no dime novel images of her. But since Rosebud Rob was the featured male hero in four dime novels that featured heroines in pants, it seemed only right to include a picture of him here. All of this is unfortunate, as Baltimore Bess was one of the most appealing boy-girls of them all!

Wheeler cleverly referenced an earlier creation when introducing Baltimore Bess, noting that she is “almost as well known in the West as Calamity Jane, whom she resembles only in the faultlessness of her form, for her face is more prepossessing, her eyes bright, and her manner a trifle more cool.”

“Where she came from,” the narrative continues, “no one knowns , nor is her history familiar to those among she mingles.” (It is only revealed in a later novel that she was born Pauline Grey and that she was cruelly deserted by a former love, cutting her hair and adopting the attire and manner of a man in response.) Puffing on her cigar, Bess promptly puts a man who attempts to threaten her in his place.

“Answer me a fair question,” she asks with utter confidence. “Did (any) galoot ever come to Deadwood as ever won a victory over Baltimore Bess?”

“Nary a time,” is the barroom’s unanimous reply. (Rosebud Rob, p. 3)

Bess’ identification with men is complete. Complaining about the way women have difficulty allowing their men to freely roam the countryside, she asks a male associate, “Why warn’t all the women born men like you and I?” That said, Bess could appreciate a handsome man in much the same way men appreciated a beautiful woman. Wheeler described the youthful Rosebud Rob as “erect and slim … closely knit and compact as iron,” with a handsome face, pure skin and perfect features. Upon his entering a bar, the normally diffident Bess rises to her feet and offers him a hearty handshake.” (p. 3)

Once Rosebud Rob leaves, Bess declares him the “purtiest galoot” she’s seen in those parts. (p. 4)

Baltimore Bess was not a main character in that first novel, but she was arguably the most compelling one. She appearsd in three Rosebud Rob dime novels in all. In the third she actively pursues Rob but fails to make the connection she seeks. A barroom brawl takes place soon after leaving her mortally wounded. She dies in Rosebud Rob’s arms.

As was often the case in these dime novels, a final scene often undoes the subversive empowerment of their female characters. All three Baltimore Bess appearances in Rosebud Rob novels occurred in 1879. Those novels were reissued in 1885 and 1899.

CINNAMON CHIP (1879)

Cinnamon Chip was the featured heroine in the fourth and final Rosebud Rob dime novel. Cinnamon was born Chip Barrett, daughter of Old Sandy Barrett–a noted explorer now deceased. Described as an eccentric girl dandy, Cinnamon Chip wears well-tailored attire with a diamond accent, smokes cigars, and twirls a gold-handled cane. Walking with a certain swagger, Chip readily insults men she doesn’t respect, enjoys a good fight, and even is said to have killed a few who didn’t respect her. But she has a soft spot for Rosebud Rob, luckily for him!

In the dime novel in question, Rob and Chip explore the legend of a dormant volcano named Mt. Rosa, and the diamond encrusted gold idol that lay hidden inside of it. It is all a deception dreamed up by a sinister villainess named Evelyn Howard. Cinnamon Chip agrees to marry Rosebud Rob at the end of the novel. A fifth novel featuring Rosebud Rob never is published whether you prefer to think of her happily married or that the wedding never happened, both scenarios are equally possible!

Cinnamon Chip is yet another creation of the prolific Edward Lytton Wheeler. Additional editions of the final Rosebud Rob dime novel were published in 1885, 1889 and 1929, making it one of the more enduring dime novels of the era.

NEW YORK NELL, the Boy-Girl Detective (1880)

Upon New York Nell’s first appearance in the narrative, she is selling newspapers on a street in Philadelphia and is mistaken for a boy. When she appears again her sex is recognized.

“A girl she was, too, he discerned at a second glance, her face betraying femininity. In for she was scarcely of woman’s medium hight, but well rounded and graceful, and sprightly of movement … the mouth in particular wearing a roguish, spirited expression…

“Taken as a whole, and not forgetting that her face was somewhat dirty, and that she was smoking the stump of a cigar, she was about as good a specimen of a street Arab as one could have found in all the Quaker City…”

The observer reckons her age between 17 or 18.

Nor is she shy about declaring her true profession. “I’m a detective,” she reveals. “Oh! you bet I make a sharp one, too. What I can’t nose out, there ain’t many as can. I’m a rogues’ terror, as they all know me by heart, over in York, and are beginning to find me out in Philadelph. Got any detective business you want executed with neatness and dispatch!” (p. 4)

New York Nell succumbs to no romantic nonsense in the case that follows, and it is only a last minute authorial addition (having nothing to do with the story just told) gives the heroine a conventionally gendered happy ending.

“Materially rewarded, for the services she had performed, the authoress of much of the happiness radiating those Western homes went back to New York, and since then has made a happy choice in a noble husband, who is justly proud of his wife whose experience in the detective business brought about such auspicious results.” (p. 31)

New York Nell, the Boy-Girl Detective; Or, Old Blakesly’s Money was another androgynous creation of Edward L. Wheeler. The dime novel was republished three times, twice in 1866 and again in 1899.

DENVER DOLL (1882)

The Denver Doll appeared in four dime novels released every month or two beginning in 1882 and running into 1883. The Denver Doll worked as a detective, and some deem her fiction’s first female sleuth. She dressed in masculine clothing and carried a pistol, though did not present herself as a man except when using a disguise for a case.

The following description introduced Denver Doll to the reader: “Of just a trifle above the medium hight of women, and cast in nature’s happiest mold, her figure in its neat-fitting suit of male attire would attract admiration in any crowd for its symmetry and grace. Her face was fair and expressive, with a power to change from pleasantry to sternness in an instant, and though wearing a happy look, there lurked behind an expression about the brilliant black eyes, and the marble forehead, that told of some past trouble, which would not be forgotten.

“He rich brown hair fell in rippling waves half-way to her waist. A plumed slouch hat of snowy white; an elegant suit of gray, and patent-leather top-boots, with a diamond studded ‘b’iled’ shirt, collar, and a sash about her waist gave her an appearance at once dashing, and characteristic of the wild roving existence she led.

“For she was a ‘character,’ a strange one, too. Where she belonged, no one knew, for she was here, there, and everywhere; what was her early history, no one could say.

“It was no secret that she was a detective; it was no secret that she was a terror too, and hated by the ruffian and outlaw element of the mountains and mines; it was no secret that she knew her own business, was a keen, nervy, discerning, but respectable woman of the world.” (Denver Doll, the Detective Queen, p. 3)

Her business associates varied across the four novels in which appeared. In her first novel her informal detective agency consisted of a Dutchman named Yakie, an African American man named Fitz Walter August “Walt” Christie, and a Chinese man known only as Chug. Ethnic dialogue was rendered for what the author clearly intended for unfortunate comic effect and while Walt is deemed warm-hearted and brave, Chug is shown to be fond of alcohol and untrustworthy. In her second adventure, she continues to work with Yakie and meets a waif named Little Bill Bethel whom she takes under her wing. In her third adventure, Little Bill is still with her, the pair joined by Big Buckskin, who turns out to be Little Bill’s long lost father. Unbeknownst to him, Big Buckskin also turns out be a Sir Clifford–English aristocracy. He proposes at story’s end, Denver Doll declines, and Little Bill opts to stay with the Doll. In her fourth novel, our heroine is again accompanied by Little Bill and is joined by the near seven-foot-tall Sunflower Sam, a homely aesthete who carries with him a pocket edition of Oscar Wilde!

It is in her fourth and final novel that we finally learn the story of Denver Doll’s early years when she happens upon Reuben Morse, her elderly father. It emerges that, as a girl, the Denver Doll (we never learn her original first name) was married, a marriage of which her father strongly disapproved. When the Doll’s husband turned up dead, she assumed her father had him killed and left her old life and name behind without a word. But our heroine now learns the truth, that the man whom she is currently investigating is actually her husband’s killer. Vengeance is obtained, father and daughter are reconciled, and the father dies not long after. Little Billy makes noises about the two of them travelling to England to reunite with his father, but the Denver Doll isn’t ready to settle down. She leaves a mine she owns to be managed by Sunflower Sam, “while she set out in pursuit of her long deserted calling of detective, and in fresh scenes of adventure we may renew her acquaintance, anon.” (Denver Doll’s Drift, p. 29)

Alas, there were no further recorded adventures, but at least she was one adventuress whose career wasn’t ended by marriage.

The Denver Doll novels were written by Edward L. Wheeler, and new editions of her adventures were published in 1888/1889 and 1900.

LADY JAGUAR (1882)

The idea of a Jaguar woman was apparently an appealing one, as the publishing empire run by Beadle soon offered up a new novel in 1882 that seemed inspired by the story of the Jaguar Queen but which in actuality only borrowed on a similarity of title. The new character was intriguing in her own right.

A blonde beauty named Dona Luisa Villena was secretly the outlaw Lady Jaguar. The name was derived from the fact that she rode a spotted mustang steed that was thought to resemble the look of the feline predator. As for Lady Jaguar, her identity was initially disguised by a mask that covered her entire face. Villena is the queen of a bandit gang, but a kindly one at that.

Lady Jaguar, the Robber Queen. A Romance of the Black Chaparral was written by William H. Manning. For whatever reason, perhaps poorer sale, Lady Jaguar was never reissued by Beadle.

STELLA FOSDICK (1906)

While not technically one of the 19th century dime novel heroines discussed here, Stella clearly belongs amongst their number. Stella was a later addition to a series of dime novels featuring Ted Strong. Sales must have been flagging as Ted’s adventures were now heralded under the banner of King of the Wild West. Ted already had some strong female characters featured in his stories, but they were largely supplanted by the addition of Stella to a seemingly unending series of weekly stories.

Stella was the daughter of of Colonel Phillip Fosdick, owner of the Sierra Blanca Ranch near El Paso, Texas. When her father dies, Stella moves North with her female chaperone, Mrs. Graham. There, she regularly joins in the adventures of West and his pals at the Black Mountain Ranch. Her colorful costume, regularly featured in cover art for the series, consisted of a white Stetson hat, gold-fringed bolero jacket and bright red skirt.

From her first appearance, Stella is clearly considered the new co-star of the rebranded King of the Wild West series, her first name always featured in the second half of story titles. Those secondary titles readily convey her action-packed role in those stories: How Stella Stormed the Lumber Camp, How Stella Held the Fort, How Stella Foiled the Marauder, How Stella Saved the Day and so on. These secondary titles were on rare occasion salacious, Stella in Bondage and Stella’s Night of Terror being two examples. Given her skills with a lariat and as a horsewoman, Stella could save the day. But the dictates of the genre meant she also had to play the damsel in distress from time to time.

Stella Fosdick was one of the last significant dime novel/story paper heroines. A new breed of heroine would soon populate the pages of popular fiction. Their number included Dorothy Gale of The Wizard of Oz series; Nancy Drew, the preeminent girl detective of the 20th century; and a string of more passive optimists best represented by Polyanna and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

The stories of Ted Strong and Stella Fosdick were written by a series of different authors under the house name of Ned Taylor and published by Street & Smith. Stella first appeared in King of the Wild West #102 and continued through the end of the series with her last appearance being in issue #175 in 1907.

Mark Carlson-Ghost

All images in this article are believed to be in the public domain and retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, an archival resource of Northern Illinois University Libraries. Attribution is their only request.

Primary References

Clark, Charles Dunning (1866). Ruth Harland; Or, The Maid of Weathersfield. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Denison, Mary A. (1866). Captain Molly, the Girl Captain. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Doughty, Francis W. (1874). Keetsea, Queen of the Plains; Or, The Enchanted Rock. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Ellis, Edward Sylvester (1869). Bess, the Female Trapper. A Tale of the Far Southwest. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Manning, William H. (1882). Lady Jaguar. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Sayers, Isabelle (1884). The Rifle Queen: Annie Oakley.

Taylor, Ned (1906). King of the Wild West’s Cattle Wars; Or, Stella’s Bout with the Rival Ranchers. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Victor, Metta Victoria Fuller (1861). Maum Guinea. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1877). Hurricane Nell, the Girl Dead-Shot; Or, The Queen of the Saddle and Lasso. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1877/2017). Deadwood Dick, The Prince of the Road; Or, The Black Rider of the Black Hills. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries. Also in The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume One. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1878/2018). Deadwood Dick on Deck; Or, Calamity Jane, the Heroine of Whoop-Up. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume Four. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1879/2018). Rosebud Rob; Or, Nugget Ned, the Knight of the Gultch. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries. Also in The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume Five. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1879/2018). Idyl, the Girl Miner; Or, Rosebud Rob on Hand. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume Five. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1879/2018). Photograph Phil; Or, Rosebud Rob’s Reappearance. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume Five. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1879/2018). Chip, The Girl Sport; Or, the Golden Idol of Mt. Rosa. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries. Also in The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume Seven. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1880). New York Nell, the Boy-Girl Detective; Or, Old Blakesly’s Money. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1882/2018). Denver Doll, the Detective Queen; Or, Yankee Eisler’s Big Surround. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume 13. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1882/2018). Denver Doll’s Victory; Or, Skull and Cross-Bones. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume 13. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1883/2018). Denver Doll’s Decoy; Or, Little Bill’s Bonanza. In The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume 13. Gannet Games.

Wheeler, Edward L. (1883/2018). Denver Doll’s Drift; Or, The Road Queen’s Big Campaign. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries. Also in The Deadwood Dick Library Collection: Volume 13. Gannet Games.

Whittaker, Frederick (1872). The Jaguar Queen; Or, The Outlaws of the Sierra Madre. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Whittaker, Frederick (1873). Ruby Roland, the Girl Spy; or, Simon Kenton’s Protégé. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

Willet, Edward (1870). Silverspur; Or, The Mountain Heroine. A Tale of the Arapaho Country. Retrieved from Nickels and Dimes, Northern Illinois University Libraries.

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Anderson, Vicki (2005). The Dime Novel in Children’s Literature. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.

Beeler, Connie (2011). Miscegenated Narration: The Effects of Interracialism in Women’s Sentimental Romances from the Civil War Years (Master’s Thesis). University of North Texas.

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Moon, Cameron (2012). The “Hybrid Hero’ in Western Dime Novels: An Analysis of Women’s Gender Performance, Dress, and Identity in the Deadwood Dick Series (Master’s Thesis). Colorado State University.

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Smith, Henry Nash (1978). Virgin Land: The American West of Symbol and Myth. Retrieved from https://xroads.virginia.edu/-Hyper/HNS/home.htm.