ROSEBUD ROB, BALTIMORE BESS AND CINNAMON CHIP – Here’s another seasonal post for the upcoming Frontierado holiday on Friday August 4th. As always, Frontierado is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality.
Recently, here at Balladeer’s Blog, I examined Edward L. Wheeler’s 1877 Dime Novel heroine Hurricane Nell, one of his gun-toting ladies of the old west. You can find that blog post HERE. This time I’m looking at three more of Wheeler’s Dime Novel characters from four of his works.
ROSEBUD ROB … the KNIGHT OF THE GULCH (February 1879) – Rosebud Rob was a Wild West detective, like the real-life Charley Siringo (covered HERE). Rob received his nickname in a bit of action he referred to as his “Black Hills Baptism” as the Black Hills Gold Rush raged.
Rosebud Rob’s hat and boots may look like the kind worn by pirates, but he was all-cowboy and all-tough. He called himself “A man to suit all circumstances.” On four of his cases, he crossed paths with gunslinging, two-fisted female detectives – Baltimore Bess in three of them, and Cinnamon Chip in a fourth.
In this debut story, Rob returns home to investigate the suspicious death of his father and how it is linked to the sinister mine owner Munro Malvern. Rosebud Rob meets and works with female detective Baltimore Bess, the former Pauline Grey.
This fiery young lady was abandoned by her abusive lover when she was 18, then trained herself at gunplay and fighting. Next, she abandoned her “girlie” clothing and headed west to track down the man who mistreated her. Continue reading
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