Magazine Review: Golden Fleece June 1939 edited by A.J. Gontier, Jr. & C.G. Williams
Golden Fleece Historical Adventure was a short-lived pulp magazine that ran for nine issues in 1938-1939, with this being the final issue (not identified as such in the issue itself.) As the subtitle mentions, it specialized in historical adventure fiction and “fact” articles. No paranormal elements, and skipping straight-up Westerns as those had their specialized magazines. (In the letters section, the editors reserved the right to bend for a “modern” story with a strong historical angle.)
The cover story is “Guardian Devil” by Johnston McCulley (of Zorro fame.) It takes place in old Santa Fe when it was part of Mexican territory. Yanqui trader Dan O’Dowd finds himself intervening one evening when he sees a young woman being assaulted by a gang of men. He’s surprised to learn that she’s quite attractive. Unfortunately, the gang members come back with friends, and it’s no use running away as the other end of the street are the alcade‘s guards, summoned by the disturbance. Dan gets the girl over a nearby wall and prepares to sell his life dearly.
He wakes up in the carcel, where the jailer gleefully informs Dan that he’s to be whipped to death as an example. However, the alcade tells O’Dowd that he has a chance to escape that fate. it appears that local big man Don Pedro Estrada has taken an interest in the Yankee, and if Dan will do him a service, he won’t have to die. What service? Dan will have to go with Fray Sebastiano to find out.
At the Estrada hacienda, the Don explains that he has an interest in the young woman Dan assisted, and he wants her protected from Carlos Martinez, a nouveau riche trader with a nasty reputation. Dan agrees to be her “guardian devil.” After Don Pedro retires from the meeting, O’Dowd meets his daughter Glorietta, who is pretty obviously the girl from the previous night–except that she seems sincere about never having met him before.
Naturally, Carlos Martinez has plans that Dan O’Dowd’s favor to Don Pedro would probably disrupt, plans that include the girl Dan previously rescued. It’s time for a lot of capture, escape and confusion by Dan as the girl blows hot or cold depending whether he is seeing her in the street or as Glorietta.
Content note: torture. A certain amount of period ethnic prejudice, though Dan quickly learns that not all Mexicans are alike.
There’s a fortuneteller named Señora Fate, though it’s left vague if she has any actual powers, or is just a good cold reader.
“How!” by Allen P. Wescott discusses why it was tradition for U.S. Army men to toast each other with that word. Turns out it dated back to the Seminole Wars when one of their chieftains used this as an abbreviation for “how do you do?”
“Over the Danube” by R.A. Emberg is Part III of his Empire Breakers series. In the Roman province of Dacia (roughly modern Romania), the king of the Goths, Filimer, is approached by Roman citizen Nicodemus. It seems that the local governor Lupinicus has been persecuting Christians, allegedly on the orders of Emperor Septimius Severus. (While some Christian histories say that Severus was big on persecuting Christians, it appears that most of the persecutions during his reign were performed by local authorities on their own initiative.) As a result, the Christians are prepared to deliver the city of Nicopolis to the Goths in exchange for being able to freely practice and proselytize their minority religion.
While Filimer finds the doctrines of the Christian sect baffling (do they worship one God or three?) they seem to be decent sorts, and he’s willing to allow freedom of religion in his domain. But he’s still not entirely convinced of their sincerity, so Nicodemus offers his daughter Marcia as a hostage. The pretty and outgoing Marcia soon endears herself to the king and his family, even convincing Filimer to forego the usual custom of human sacrifice at the beginning of military campaigns.
Meanwhile, Lupinicus is worried about the sudden incursion of a small number of Goth troops into the area south of the Danube, but if he can get military support from the stronger governor closer to Rome, his legions should be able to handle it. Meanwhile, he’s planning to wipe out the Christian minority in the city for daring to place obedience to God over their obedience to the government. Except Marcia, who he orders taken alive. It is super obvious what his motive is for that, to the point his own henchman is disgusted.
Exciting battle scenes ensue.
“Blade of the Gascon” by W.C. Clarke is set in France during the life of Cardinal Richelieu. Yes, that one. A mysterious sword master has appeared in Paris, defeating all comers in technically illegal duels. He turns out to be someone who went to school with the Cardinal back before that worthy got shunted into a religious career. Meanwhile, the Cardinal’s beautiful niece, a young widow, is the target of nefarious plotters, especially Prince Gaston of Orleans.
You can really feel the Dumas pastiche in this one, but it’s condensed to novella length.
“The Chinese War in California” by Gene Kivett is a brief report on a feud between two factions of Chinese miners during the Gold Rush.
“FATE” by Cedric W. Windas is a poem and accompanying illustration meditating on an abandoned ship. It’s atmospheric.
“A Torch Is Lighted” by A. Tanner recounts a tale from the early life of Brian Boru. In it, he’s serving in a monastery as a young man when visitors arrive, including Kathleen, daughter of one of the Irish kings. She’s had a dream which she believes is prophetic, about a leader who will free Ireland of the Danes who have invaded it. If she can locate this man, perhaps her father will be persuaded to resist the foreigners rather than cooperating with them.
The Danes have no intention of leaving, so have sent raiders to stop Kathleen. There’s an attack on the monastery, killing most there, including Kathleen, but this inspires Brian to fight for freedom. An unusually downer ending for the genre.
“Mightier than the Pen” by Edward F. Leyh III is a very brief piece about a Baltimore newspaper shuttering during the War of 1812 as its publisher was helping repel the British fleet.
“Envoy to the Khan” by E. Hoffman Price takes place in Afghanistan, as Abdurrahman Khan receives a messenger from the newest British military commander. He makes the messenger wait for a reply as the Khan tries to unite the warring tribes under his banner with a mixture of cunning and military might. Long story short, the Afghanis will be standing firm against the Russians, at least for a while. Some period Orientalism.
“Napoleon at Eylau” by Capt. Hugh Thomason is another short one, this time a piece about how the Emperor kept up morale in East Prussia by publicly eating potatoes.
“Emperor of the United States” by Clay Osborne is a short biography of Emperor Norton, one of the more famous oddities of San Francisco. He’d been a successful businessman until he was convinced to try to get a corner in rice–which failed abysmally. Although he did manage to pay all his leveraged debt, Norton’s mind snapped under the pressure and he decided he was the Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.
By imperial standards, Norton was actually one of the best emperors of any country ever. Generous, peaceable and remarkably free of prejudice. While probably delusional, he was never legally declared insane, and the majority of people humored him, in part because his orders made sense. A sharp contrast to (insert topical political reference.)
Content note: Outdated attitudes towards mental illness.
“The Knights of Malta” by Allen Fiske is the last short history piece. The Knights in question started as the Hospitallers of Jerusalem, protecting a medical facility there, but over the centuries moved around until land was granted them in Malta. They were big on stopping piracy in the area, but were eventually surrendered to Napoleon.
Lastly, we have the “Round Table”, the letter column. It’s most notable for a long letter from a reader truly passionate about the proper technique for using spears, who critiques the artists’ rendition–one passes, most do not.
It’s a decent selection of stories, with the best being the McCulley piece and the Emperor Norton article. This issue is very light on the “of its time” racism and sexism, but I cannot guarantee that other issues are the same. The entire short run is available in reprint from Adventure House, and are recommended to fans of historical fiction. It might make a good present for your adventure-loving friend or relative!
