Cinnamon Chip

Synopsis
Hailing from Montana, Chip is the daughter of the late Old Sandy Barrett, a member of Hayden's Exploration Expedition. She is described as a beautiful girl, around 18 at the time of the story, with a "round and symmetrical" form, medium stature, dark eyes, pearly teeth, curly brown hair and a cool, clear voice. She is also described as an "eccentric girl dandy" who dresses in a man's clothes, has a diamond upon her bosom, and carries a gold handled cane, which she twirls as she walks with a swaggering gait.

Chip describes herself as a "guide, sport, hunter, trapper, miner and hoss-jockey, all in one, ya parseeve?" Though she is clearly quite intelligent and witty, she speaks with a heavy western accent and is pretty belligerent about stating her decidedly undiplomatic opinion with a lot of insults and name-calling. She often refers to men as galoots, and to men she doesn't like as a "son of a greaser." She is pretty much fearless and is always itching for a fight. She smokes cigars and carries a pair of revolvers on her hip.

In the town of Bummer's Bend in Northern Arizona, Chip met a sport named Rosebud Rob and the two of them were later engaged. Outside Bummer's Bend was a dormant volcano called Mt. Rosa. Local legend said that inside the were the ruins of an extinct race of natives, and their old temple, which contained a golden idol with large diamonds for eyes. The idol was fake, but hidden inside the volcano was a rich gold mine. The secret of this mine was being kept by a wealthy and corrupt woman named Evelyn Howard. Ms. Howard's gang of masked men tried to ward off strangers with special effects designed to make the volcano seem haunted. Cinnamon Chip and her friends figured out the ruse and sent Ms. Howard packing. Cinnamon Chip, who earned the respect of Evelyn's father, General Howard, assumed Ms. Howard's identity after the villain disappeared.

While Cinnamon was an adventurer and was clearly very capable and combat ready, it is difficult to classify her as a hero. Much of her troubles seemed to result from her own overbearing spitfire attitude and rough manners. She was said to have killed several men, simply for offending her honor. She cavorted with gamblers and ultimately, didn't really help anyone but herself and her friends. She also demonstrated racist attitudes common at the time. On the other hand, she did seem to hold a code of honor and her partner and fiance, Rosebud Rob, was established in this story and previous stories as being on the side of the law.