Challenge of the Yukon, the old Radio show gave us “The God of the Mountain” on May 15, 1945. Sergeant Preston of the Mounties and his dog, Yukon King, help a Native American man defend his gold mine against the god of the mountain Yukko. Preston isn’t fooled by tales of evil spirits. When he hears Blackie Morton is in town, he knows there is foul play afoot…
The haunted gold mine is one of the oldest cliches in the Northern business. It may have been transferred from Western fiction and history. Just about every comic book story uses the old trope. As to be expected, the culprit is not a mountain god or even bunch of kobolds. It’s always an unscrupulous miner trying to fool the locals.
Another trope we hear here is that of the white savior who helps the native man. This racist cliche was found in most adventure stories between the Age of Kipling to the 1950s. The sympathetic character of Catanha is better than many portrayals of Native Americans but Kono the shaman is less so. (For more thoughts on racism in the Pulps listen to our podcast.)
For Sgt. Preston:
If you’d like more Sergeant Preston, read here.