The Boy Scouts of the Air in Indian Land

New Mexico, 1910s. A group of boys gathered near Fort Bayard witness something peculiar: sheep lying slaughtered in the desert, killed by no animal they recognize. Their new friend Fred has just arrived from Cleveland, fresh-faced and eager for adventure, and the boys are determined to show him the mysteries of the Southwest. When a runaway horse nearly kills them, they find an unlikely ally in Carlito, an Apache boy with skills that prove indispensable. Together, the boys chase the legend of the Thunder Bird, a creature of Native American lore that might explain the strange killings. This is early twentieth-century boys'-adventure fiction at its most earnest: a story about friendship tested in dangerous country, about courage learned not in classrooms but in the wild, and about the uneasy, hopeful meeting of different worlds. Perfect for readers who want a time capsule of American frontier optimism, or anyone who believes the best adventures start with a mystery and a map.