The Hero of a Hundred Fights: Collected Stories from the Dime Novel King, from Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill Hickok

by Ned Buntline, R. Clay Reynolds (Editor), Edward Zane Carroll Judson

The Wild West came alive under the pen of Edward Zane Carroll Judson, who wrote many of America's best-loved  “dime novels ”under the pseudonym Ned Buntline. From Buffalo Bill (whom Judson knew first-hand) to Wild Bill Hickok, these vivid tales feature some of the most colorful characters on the American landscape.  This anthology gathers a selection of his best-loved work, including four full-length unabridged novels, each with an introduction by author and critic Clay Reynolds.
 
Stories include:
Buffalo Bill, the King of Border Men, or The Wildest and Truest Tale I've Ever Told
 Hazel-Eye, the Girl Trapper, or A Tale of Strange Young Life
The Miner Detective; or, the Ghost of the Gulch
Wild Bill's Last Trail

Genres: Westerns

480 pages, Hardcover

First published June 7, 2011

About the author

Edward Zane Carroll Judson Sr. (March 20, 1821 – July 16, 1886), known by his pseudonym Ned Buntline, was an American publisher, journalist, writer, and publicist.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Background and setting may have provided a unique appeal, but audiences also demanded action. Thus, the formula for the dime novel plot was well-established before the western rose to dominate the market. Action ordinarily begins with an abduction, then a flight, followed by a chase, and then a rescue […] As in the melodrama proper, the person abducted is most often a woman, specifically a young and virginal ingenue whose beauty is often matched only by her beauty and moral certitude; she always prefers an untimely death rather than the unspeakable fate of remaining in the power of some unscrupulous villain, but from time to time, objects of a familiar nature substitute for a damsel in distress: a safe or strongbox, important legal papers, the claim on a mine, gold or money, or some combination of these” (xxix).

“One common twist on this theme is the hidden or unknown identity of one character that, when revealed, results in the reunion of long-lost siblings or of parents and children. More often than not, a family fortune is involved in such revelations. Generally, the audience is let in on the secret early, so anxiety, not only about the prevention of justice, but also about the possibility that the characters might die ignorant of their fortunes, contributes to the suspense. Things always turn out for the best; most often, the stories end happily, usually with a marriage” (xxix).

“Curse word substitutes such as ‘dod-durn it,’ and oaths such as ‘Moses and Maple Syrup!’ or ‘By Jupiter and all attendant moons’ substitute for stronger language, even in the direst circumstances. […] To some extent, this was a reflection of the forced gentility of what some would call ‘The Sentimental Age’” (xxx).

“Alternatively, the hero was a well-educated, well brought up, well-mannered gentleman of the East, both a product of and a representative of institutionalized civilization. He brought to the frontier not only a high sense of nobility and personal courage, but also a refining spirit and a genteel civility that would ultimately prevail against the savagery and primitiveness of the wilderness, sometimes by joining forces with those who had come before and found the path, and sometimes by being tutored by them in the ways of the West” (xxxiv).

[David Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of four works from Ned Buntline, the king of dime novels back in the later 1800s. Though the man wrote countless pieces of 'cheap' entertainment in many genres, he is best remembered for his western/frontier fiction, which this book focuses on. I'll say right off the bat, as stories, these works are three-to-four star, suffering from many of the clichés and shortcomings associated with dime novels. But I give this book four stars both for the presentation, which is excellent, and the very informative essay in the beginning, informing the reader of Buntline's life (which was pretty 'pulpy' itself) and work.

The first story, Buffalo Bill; King of the Border Men, is Buntline's most famous, and probably responsible for establishing much of the fame of Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock. Ironically, this short novel/long novella gets almost nothing about the two right except their names (and he doesn't even do that, calling Hickock 'Hitchcock'). This is basically a fictional novel, and would've been fine enough as one, if he hadn't brought real people into it and played loose with history. And I mean really loose, even Hollywood isn't as brazen when it comes to disregarding facts. As fiction it's entertaining enough, very pulpy with countless women being kidnapped (no less than four times) and lots of gunfights and cliff-hangers. Not great writing, but certainly entertaining enough. The second work, Hazel Eye, the Girl Trapper, is a much more focused story. It tells the story of a heroine who looses her father, and then finds herself caught up in a plot regarding family inheritance, set amidst an Indian uprising, though she's friends with the Indians so not on the expected side. Still pulpy, but a much tighter story and not blending real history with wild fancy. It's probably the most fun of the frontier tales in this collection. The Miner Detective is the third, and probably the best written. It's a blending of ghost story, western, detective, and revenge thriller, set in the California goldfields. It's focused around a criminal who's escaped justice, and one man's machinations to bring him down. Some of the lengths he goes to are a little unrealistic, but on the whole it's a fun, tightly constructed read. The final story, Wild Bills Last Trail, is undoubtedly the worst. It's a complete fabrication of the circumstances surrounding Wild Bill Hickock's murder, and not even a particularly good fictional story at that. The tale portrays Wild Bill as some brooding, passive aggressive man who's dreamed of his own death and is resigned to it. This is pretty much the opposite of who Wild Bill Hickock actually was, and just comes off as disrespectful. Not a great tale. But despite that, this is an entertaining read as a whole, and would be appreciated by anyone who likes western or frontier tales.

[Laura Bang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read the introductory material and the first story in this anthology, "Buffalo Bill, the King of Border Men; or, The Wildest and Truest Tale I've Ever Told" (I read this for a research project & the other stories aren't as relevant to my topic). The intro materials are good at placing the story in context. The story... Well, the story is racist, sexist (though not quite as sexist as I was expecting), and rather poorly written -- and yet, it's still a decent "yarn." I didn't know that combination was possible, but there you go. It definitely dragged a bit in the middle, around the third iteration of the kidnap/rescue plot, and there is a lot of violence, but overall it was better than I expected. I probably won't read the other three stories, though.

Three stars is probably too generous, but it was definitely less painful than Deadwood Dick the Prince of the Road.