The Dime Novel Author ~ D. K. Deters

I recently read a bit of history about Prentiss Ingraham (1843–1904). He was a dime novel author and is best remembered for his novels about William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Ingraham claimed to have written more than 600 novels during his 34-year career. Clearly, this author was no slacker—and he had my attention. I had to find out more.

The Mississippi Encyclopedia notes:

“Ingraham was attending Mobile Medical College when the Civil War began but he left to enter the Confederate Army in Withers’s Mississippi Regiment of Light Artillery. He later transferred to Ross’s Texas Cavalry Brigade, rising to the rank of commander of scouts. He was wounded in the foot while fighting at the siege of Port Hudson, Louisiana, and the injury troubled him for the rest of his life. He was taken prisoner but escaped. He received a second wound while fighting at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.”

Afterward, his adventures took him to Mexico, Austria, Egypt, and London.

It's also interesting to note that “Ingraham eventually joined rebels fighting against Spain in Cuba, becoming a colonel in the Cuban rebel army as well as a captain in the navy. Captured by the Spanish while trying to smuggle arms into Cuba, Ingraham later escaped and thereafter always used the title colonel.”

In the 1870s, he began writing dime novels for the New York publisher Beadle & Adams. He based many of those novels on his own adventures. Ingraham was writing adventure fiction when he met Buffalo Bill. Cody was already a national celebrity and known for his “Buffalo Bill Combination” stage show. Ingraham traveled with Cody and sometimes acted as a press agent for the show. His experience helped him to take over the Buffalo Bill series of dime novels. He went on to write over 200 Buffalo Bill stories.

I was amazed at the pseudonyms Ingraham used. Wikipedia shows: “…Dr. Noel Dunbar, Dangerfield Burr, Major Henry B. Stoddard, Colonel Leon Lafitte, Frank Powell, Harry Dennies Perry, Midshipman Tom W. Hall, Lieut. Preston Graham. He also ghostwrote several works for Buffalo Bill Cody.”

While many readers loved Ingraham’s stories, some critics were less complimentary. The University of Mississippi Libraries’ Ingraham Exhibition states:

“While Ingraham’s novels were essentially hackwork written quickly and produced cheaply, they did attract a substantial popular audience. … Ingraham is credited with popularizing the cowboy hero and in shaping America’s popular perception of the Western frontier.”

Curious, I decided to read one of the stories myself. It’s easy to see why his stories influenced the Westerns of today. If you’re also intrigued and would like to explore some of these remarkable stories firsthand, Project Gutenberg offers 17 free eBooks by Prentiss Ingraham, including several popular Buffalo Bill stories. You can explore titles like Seventy Years on the Frontier, Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler; Or, The Last of the Indian Ring, and Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning; Or, Dauntless Dell’s Rival. Enjoy.

Resources:

All photos are from the Public Domain.

The Settlers’ West by Martin F Schmitt & Dee Brown

University of Mississippi Libraries - Ingraham Exhibition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prentiss_Ingraham

https://www.gutenberg.org/

https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/prentiss-ingraham/