Arkansas Kit; or The River Sprite’s Choice: A Tale of the Crowfoot Country

Arkansas Kit; or, The River Sprite’s Choice: A Tale of the Crowfoot Country by W. J. Hamilton, is a “dime novel” published in 1893 by Beadle and Adams, possibly the most important publisher of this genre. The dime novel emerged as a form of popular literature that benefited from developments in manufacturing and transportation at the end of the nineteenth century. Technological advances in printing enabled large printing runs, and the railroads delivered these small, cheap publications promptly to (mostly) boys throughout the country who eagerly awaited them. Several dime novels are associated in some manner with the state of Arkansas. Occasionally the title contains the only reference to the state, and when Arkansas actually figures in the text, it receives its traditional treatment—a very beautiful, unspoiled natural setting populated by coarse, uneducated, violent men. Women characters are often portrayed (somewhat surprisingly for the time) as strong and brave and are invariably beautiful.

Kit Hammond, hero of Arkansas Kit, is described as the beau ideal of a scout and a man of the borderlands. Among his physical attributes are arms so long that, when he is standing, they reach almost to his knees. He wrestles alligators for sport. His intellectual accomplishments include a perfect knowledge of the language of the Crowfoot Indians. The men in his band of trappers include a stereotypical Irishman and a cowardly Frenchman who is the camp cook. Their antics provide the comic relief in this melodrama, but they are completely loyal to Kit. The English spoken by Kit and his companions is shown with the misspellings and contractions common in dime novels set in Arkansas. Kit is guiding Dick Weston, a former city man who is experienced in wilderness life and has a private agenda. The River Sprite of the title is a young woman who lives in the forest near the river, having left a more settled town life. She has a mysterious relationship with a masked villain that is revealed in the final paragraphs of the novel. The complicated plot includes Indian attacks, hidden caves, hand-to-hand fighting, murder, kidnapping, and revenge.

As usual in a dime novel, the plot is unraveled quickly in the final paragraphs. The River Sprite, Weston, and the masked villain are linked by incidents in their past. The Sprite is beloved by both Kit and Dick Weston. She is attracted to both, and after some soul-searching, she chooses Arkansas Kit, preferring him and his way of life. The two are married in Little Rock (Pulaski County), and Dick Weston, a few years later, “is caught by a pretty widow from Natchez.”

For additional information:
Nickels and Dimes: From the Collections of Johannsen and Leblanc. https://dimenovels.lib.niu.edu (accessed November 27, 2024).

Ethel C. Simpson
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville