With that in mind, I began reading about Pocahontas over the long weekend. Most of her public domain appearances focused on the mythology of her romantic life with Captain John Smith. In one story, she was brought back to life to serve as a guide for Kid Eternity. But there was one version of Pocahontas' story that was so bizarre and so alien that I couldn't get enough of her one and only appearance!
In real life, Pocahontas was a Native American princess from the late 1590s/early 1600s who lived with her tribe in what we now know as Virginia. She met up with the first English settlers in 1607 when she was a young girl. She became friends with Captain John Smith and the myth is that she saved him by flinging her body over his to protect him from her people. Pocahontas was eventually captured by the English. She married one of her captors and traveled with him to England with their infant son. Unfortunately, she fell deathly ill while overseas. She died in March 1617 at the age of 21 and is currently buried in Gravesend, England.
But GUNSMOKE #14 would have you believe that Pocahontas born born in 1865 near Lonetree, WY. It would have you believe that she was an orphaned blond-haired white girl who was adopted by Chief Powhatan, who presented her twenty years later with instructions for how to claim her birth parents' estate. She was Pocahontas, the Golden Avenger.
Or course, it wasn't that easy for Pocahontas to claim her birthright. A wicked man named Walter Trask knew that the property had a hidden vein of gold, so he tricked the Tuckers into appointing him as executor of their estate. And then he killed them and waited two decades to claim the property for himself.
No doubt about it. Trask killed the Tuckers for their land. He's not even shy about this fact. In fact, he bragged to Pocahontas about killing her birth parents. And despite his bragging confession, the sheriff apparently can't be bothered to do anything about it.
Fortunately, Pocahontas isn't alone in Lonetree. She is accompanied by two of her tribal brothers, Pontiac and White Eagle. They are both pretty good fighters and even willing to jump in front of a bullet to save their adopted princess. But have no doubt, this Pocahontas could defend herself. She could fire a pistol like any man, and her front kick was pretty powerful too!
It all came to a head when Trask and his men managed to capture the Golden Avenger and planned to execute her and the sheriff to remove the last barrier to their land-grab. Fortunately, Powhatan and his people burst into the room at the last minute and overpowered Trask's minions. Which gave Pocahontas the opportunity to tackle and capture Walter Trask and avenge her dead parents!
And that was the story of how comic book readers everywhere discovered that Pocahontas is a blond-haired white girl from Wyoming. We never did see the Golden Avenger again -- and frankly, that might be for the best.
"The Golden Avenger" was published in August 1951 and featured pencils by Ed Goldfarb, and inks by Bob Baer.