In my recent Two-Gun Raconteur article on rough-and-tumble fighting I mentioned that one of the figures from Western folklore that might have been a model for Breckinridge Elkins was the Texas pioneer Strap Buckner (Shanks 51). As Buckner is not as well known today as other folk heroes like Paul Bunyon, John Henry, or Pecos Bill it is worth taking a closer look this legendary figure.

Aylett “Strap” Buckner was born around 1794 and was one of the Old Three Hundred, the first colonists that founded Austin in 1824. Much of the little we know about the historical Buckner comes from census records and his letters to Stephen Austin. He seems to have had an on-again off-again relationship with Austin, though ultimately the two became good friends. Buckner was an Indian fighter, but also helped negotiate treaties with the Waco and Kawatoni tribes. He was killed fighting the Mexican army at the Battle of Velasco in 1832 (“BUCKNER”).

Accounts say he was a giant of a man with fiery red hair and matching beard. His great size and strength became the stuff of legend among the early colonists in Texas and a body of folklore eventually began to develop around him. The earliest known written version of the folkloric Strap Buckner appears in the 1877 travelogue of Colonel Nathaniel Alston Taylor. Taylor arrived in Texas shortly before the Civil War and traveled all over the state by horseback, recording his observations on the lives and social conditions of the locals. He heard the story of Strap Buckner recounted by a young man near Buckner’s Creek in Fayette County (Dobie 119).

According to the account of Buckner recorded by Taylor, the big man had the odd habit of good-naturally knocking people down by slapping them on the back. It was said that he had knocked down everyone in Austin’s colony at least three times, including Stephen Austin himself. Although Buckner meant no real harm, his fellow colonists tired of his behavior and Buckner was forced to move away to the La Grange area. There he began to knock down all the members of the local Indian tribe, including the chief. This chief, however, instead of being angry, was impressed by Buckner’s strength and gave him a swift, bob-tailed gray mare as a gift, as well as bestowing upon him the name Red Son of Blue Thunder (Taylor 121-122). Other versions claim that the chief even offered Strap the hand of his daughter, Princess Tulipita, in marriage (“BUCKNER”).

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noun

1. Seven-up also known as Old Sledge, is a card game derived from All Fours. It works well with three players, but is usually played by four in two fixed-partnerships. A standard deck of fifty-two cards is used.

There are four possible points per deal: High trump card, Low trump card, Jack of trumps and Game (highest point score in the game.) Points are awarded in the following order:

1. High: This is for being dealt the highest trump in play

2. Low: This is for being dealt the lowest trump in play. It doesn’t matter who wins the card in a trick. The point is awarded to the player or team that was dealt the lowest trump in that hand.

3. Jack: This point goes to the player or side that wins the Jack of Trumps in a trick.

4. Game: This point is awarded to the player or side that has the highest tally of valuable cards. (based on which player or side has won the greater number of kings, queens, jacks, aces and tens.)

Seven-up is played over several hands to an agreed total such as 7 or 10.

[origin: All Fours, also called Seven-up, is among the oldest extant card games in England. Its first known description was in Charles Cotton's Compleat Gamester of 1674. The game was taken to America where it acquired other names such as Seven-Up, High-low, Jack or Old Sledge. According to Hoyle (August 1996) it was the favorite of the American gamester for a least a hundred years from the late 1700's to the Civil war era. The game is still played in northwest England and Wales, and it has become the national game of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.]

The cartoon above shows All Fours being played in the presidential campaign of 1836. It was drawn by a satirist who was in sympathy with the Whigs. Opposing candidates Martin Van Buren (Democrat) and William Henry Harrison (Whig) face each other across a card table. Behind Van Buren stands his vice-presidential running mate Richard M. Johnson. Behind Harrison is incumbent President Andrew Jackson, who smokes a clay pipe and stands on tiptoes to spy on Harrison’s hand. With his left hand he signals to Van Buren. Jackson: “What a h–ll of a hand old Harrison’s got. I’m afraid Martin and Dick Johnson will go off with a flea in their ear.” Johnson: “The old general is making signs that Harrison has the two highest trump cards and low. Martin: “He’ll catch your Jack and then the jig’s up! You’d better beg.” Van Buren: “I ask one.” Harrison: “Take it! Now look out for your Jack!” On the wall above the table is a painting of the Battle of the Thames, one of Harrison’s celebrated military victories as well as the occasion on which Johnson is reported to have slain the Indian chief Tecumseh.

HOWARD’S USAGE:

…
Carl gave a yell and dealt the cards unto the other chumps
And they all whooped with joyous glee when diamonds turned up trumps.
“High, jack and game is here, begad!” Pink** bellered with a scowl;
“You lie, you sot! You have it not!” Carl answered with a yowl.

Pink led the ace of trumps full soon, and “There,” said he, “is high!”
Carl followed suit, it was a trey, with a tough light in his eye.
Then Pink led out the queen of trumps and gave an ugly frown;
Carl snickered with unholy glee and laid a four spot down.

Pink swore full long and loud and rough and led the deuce of clubs;
Carl caught it with a king and said, “You’re all a lot of dubs.”
He led an ace and caught a king, “Here’s a game for me, egad!”
For many an ace and many a face the wicked scoundrel had.

And then an argument arose and loud was their abuse
And Pink got into lead again with a nine upon a deuce.
Then Pink laid down the diamond king and feinted with his right,
“Egad, that jack of yours will go, if it takes the rest of the night.”

Carl drank four pints of beer or so and at his hand he glanced—
He flung his cards at Stupid’s head and in his rage he danced.
Then with a curse that would, egad, clean freeze a camel’s humps,
Beside the king that Pink had led he put the jack of trumps.
…

Then long and loud the battle raged until the evening meal,
They punched each other in the nose and bit each other’s heel.
The battle lasted all that night; at last the field was clear,
And Pink had high and jack and game, and Carl was drunk on beer.

*Carl Macon and Pink, along with Robert E. Howard, were members of the “boardinghouse gang” while they were students at Howard Payne Commercial School. Pink was a nickname for REH’s friend, Lindsey Tyson.

[from “The Seven-Up Ballad”; to read the complete poem see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 604 and Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 175]

A few months ago on the REHupa email list I brought up a question about The Outline of History by H.G. Wells and its presence in Howard’s library. For those who aren’t familiar with it, The Outline of History was a massive work by Wells that was essentially a macro-history of the world, from the formation of the earth to modern times. It was first published in a series of twenty-four soft-cover booklets in 1919, then in book form as a two-volume set in 1920. The Outline of History went through several significant revisions throughout Wells’s lifetime—particularly within the first few years of its publication—so for anyone attempting to look at the influence of this work on Howard’s fiction, it becomes very important to determine exactly which edition Howard had in his library.

Steve Eng’s list of Howard’s library in The Dark Barbarian records a four-volume set of The Outline of History with four individual accession numbers for the Howard Payne University library. As the set was no longer in the HPU holdings, no publication information was given to indicate which edition Howard owned other than to note that the four-volume version exists in numerous printings. When compiling the online version of the “Robert E. Howard Bookshelf,” Rusty Burke followed his standard practice of listing the earliest American edition for books no longer in the HPU holdings. For The Outline of History this is the 1920 two-volume 2nd edition published by Macmillan (the 1st edition being the 1919 serialized version). A 3rd revised edition was also published by Macmillan in 1921 in both single volume and two-volume versions.

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noun

1. Lotuses are five species of water lilies, three in the genus Nymphaea and two in Nelumbo. Growing from the mud at the bottom of ponds and streams, the exquisite Lotus flower rises above the water and is usually white or pink with fifteen or more oval, spreading petals, and a peculiar, flat seedcase at its center.

The lotus has appeared in legends originating from ancient Egypt and played an important part in ancient Egyptian religion. For thousands of years it has also symbolized spiritual enlightenment. The Nymphaea lotus, the Egyptian white lotus, is believed to be the original sacred lotus of ancient Egypt. Along with the Egyptian blue lotus, N. caerulea, it was often pictured in ancient Egyptian art. The white lotus opens at dusk and blooms at night while the blue water lotus blooms during the day.

Recent, studies have shown that the blue lotus has mild psycho-active properties and can act as a mild sedative. It may have been used as a sacrament in ancient Egypt and certain ancient South American cultures.

The lotus with properties similar to that of the blue lotus also appears in Ancient Greek mythology. According to legend, the Lotophagi, or lotus eaters, were a race of people who lived on an island near Northern Africa. Their diet consisted mostly of the lotus plant and its flowers. The narcotic effect caused the people to sleep in peaceful apathy. In the Odyssey, some of Odysseus’ men go ashore on this island and eat of the lotus food. They forget about their homeland forcing Odysseus to drive them aboard the ship.

[origin: ca 1541; Latin & Greek; Latin lotus, from Greek lotos]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

My beard is white and dim my sight and I would fain be gone.
Speak without guile: where lies the isle of mystic Avalon?”

“A league behind the western wind, a mile beyond the moon,
Where the dim seas roar on an unknown shore and the drifting stars lie strewn:
The lotus buds there scent the woods where the quiet rivers gleam,
And king and knight in the mystic light the ages drowse and dream.”
With sudden bound Falume wheeled round, he fled through the flying wrack
Till he came again to the land of Spain with the sunset at his back.
No dreams for me, but living free, red wine and battle’s roar;
I breast the gales and I ride the trails until I ride no more.”

[from “The Ride of Falume”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 11 and Always Comes Evening, p. 25]

Robert E Howard was well aware of the dangers of working in the oil field. In a letter to August Derleth in July 1935, for instance, he relates two violent deaths that occurred on oil rigs, and many of his letters speak of the toughness of the oil field workers. In a December 1932 letter to H.P. Lovecraft, he mentioned one of the notable dangers of the oil patch: nitroglycerin.

“Again, the father of another friend, shooting an oil-well, having lowered the nitro-can, was horrified to see it shoot out of the shaft, having been expelled by a gas-pocket. There was but one thing to be done, and he did it. He grasped the ‘can’ firmly in his arms in midair, and held on, cradling it with his body. That took quick thinking, but it also took unusual bodily strength. Had the ‘can’ escaped his arms, struck against the timbers or fallen on the floor, the impact would have set it off and blown to bits the rig and everybody in it. It’s a wonder it didn’t anyway. But there was one of many cases where a keen mind tied to powerful muscles saved human lives.”

Now, it’s probable that this story is a prime piece of hyperbole, meant simply to nail down Howard’s point about the need for physical strength for survival, against HPL’s view that the work of the mind was far more important. Nevertheless, nitroglycerin was used in drilling (once the drills hit solid rock, they needed some help in busting it up, so explosives were dropped into the hole), and it added yet another element of danger to an already chancy business.

Rambling through old issues of the Cross Plains Review, I came across this story, from August 11, 1922, which amply illustrates the dangers.

Fatal Nitro-Glycerin Explosion in Pioneer Field — Mangled Bodies Picked Up

The most disastrous accident that has happened in the local oil field occurred at the Texas Company camp about one mile northeast of Pioneer at 11 o’clock last Saturday morning [i.e., August 5] when a large quantity of nitroglycerin exploded in the midst of the shacks and tents that were occupied by the oil field workers and their families. W.D. Massengale, the nearest victim to the explosion and who was handling the trecherous [sic] fluid, was literally blown into fragments. Portions of his body were picked up over an acre of space surrounding the spot where the explosion occurred. Eight others, including women and children, were most seriously injured.

Mistaking the can of nitroglycerin for linseed oil was the cause of the tragedy. Mr. Massengale was a teamster and it is reported that he secured the nitroglycerin from one of the nearest deserted wells of the field, believing the fluid was linseed oil, which he intended using as a saturant on the wheels of his wagon to protect them against the dry weather. He had placed one of the wagon wheels in a pan and was applying the fluid, which it is reported he had previously heated on a cook stove, when the disasterous [sic] explosion occurred. all [sic] the nearby shacks and tents completely wrecked or damaged and the mangled bodies of the victims were picked up in every direction from the explosion. Fragments of Mr. Massengale’s body were still being found and buried late Sunday afternoon.

 (Note: picture is NOT from Pioneer, it’s an image borrowed from the Web. But you get the idea….)

noun

1. a Spanish gentleman; a cavalier
2. a man who is skilled in riding and managing horses; a horseman.

[from Spanish: gentleman, horseman, from Late Latin caballārius rider, horse groom, from caballus horse]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Then Steve yelped in exultation as his pick rang on a bit of metal. He snatched it up and held it close to his eyes, straining in the waning, light. It was caked and corroded with rust, worn almost paper-thin, but he knew it for what it was–a spur-rowel, unmistakably Spanish with its long cruel points. And he halted, completely bewildered. No Spaniard ever reared this mound, with its undeniable marks of aboriginal workmanship. Yet how came that relic of Spanish caballeros hidden deep in the packed soil?

[From “The Horror from the Mound,” originally published in Weird Tales May 1932; to read the complete story see The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard (Del Rey 2008), pp. 185-199.]

Well, it appears that my attempt to celebrate the Cross Plains Centennial Year by posting news stories from old copies of the Review got sidetracked this spring. Given that I’m flying off to the “hometown of my heart” tomorrow for Howard Days, at which we will be celebrating “Howard History” as well as the Centennial, I thought a quick buzz through some June papers would be in order.

June 23, 1916

Cross Cut Items: Dr. Howard gave the young folks a party Saturday night all present report a nice time.

June 1, 1923

Gas Fire Takes Heavy Toll at Cross Cut; Man Severely Burned: Fire originating from gas breaking out between the 8 and 10 inch casing at the McDonough No. 5, of Crabb & McNeel and Tom Bryant, Saturday, completely destroyed the rig and tools and seriously burned James Hecht, tool dresser, working on the well.

Robert Howard, who has been in Brownwood High School, is back home after graduating.

Cleanup Campaign Gets Cooperation of Citizenship: The Clean-up campaign which is scheduled to start next Tuesday, is going to have the support of the citizenship. All are interested in the movement apparently, and many have so expressed themselves. The Mayor has issued proclamation that the business houses would close on Tuesday morning during the next two weeks, in order that all may take part in the work.

Atticus Webb, well known as “one of the leaders in the state against the liquor traffic,” was scheduled to speak at the Methodist Church on Sunday. The other churches were not holding services, so that everyone could go and hear Dr. Webb.

June 22, 1923

Dr. Howard, wife, and son returned Saturday from a two week trip to Marlin, Texas.

The Cross Plains Motor Co. was offering a Ford One-Ton truck body for $380.

June 7, 1929

Sad Death of Geo. B. Scott: George B. Scott, cashier at the First State Bank (later Citizens Bank, now Texas Heritage), was fishing with a friend in the Philpeco Country Club Lake, midway between Cross Plains and Rising Star, when the boat they were in capsized and Mr. Scott drowned. [Scott was the father of Jack Scott, known to REH fans as the long-time newspaperman who first reported the death of Robert E. Howard. Jack, who also served several terms as Cross Plains mayor, was a very good friend to the Howard community.]

Robert Howard is visiting relatives in Brownwood this week.

Dr. Howard who has moved to Spur visited with his family here past week end. [Dr. Howard's residence in Spur did not last very long.]

Dr. S.E. Shoultz, “Magnetic Masseur,” was offering free examinations at his office, first door south of the Piggly Wiggly store.

Lotief’s Dry Goods was offering “New Wash Frocks” for $1.95 and silk dresses from $4.95 to $6.95.

At the Howell theater in Coleman, you could see “The Barker,” starring Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackail, Betty Compson, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Thursday through Saturday, and then an “All-Talking Super-Special,” “Strange Cargo,” a thrilling South Seas adventure, Monday and Tuesday.  Coming June 13-15, “Hearts in Dixie” (see Robert E Howard Goes to the Movies), and soon — Jolson’s “The Jazz Singer.”

June 14, 1929

Jack Scott was recently elected editor of the Brand, student newspaper at Simmons University in Abilene (now Hardin-Simmons).

Lewis T. Nordyke, of Cottonwood, was the editor-in-chief of the Grassburr, yearbook of John Tarleton Agricultural College in Stephenville. Nordyke went on to become a successful journalist and author. Anyone with an interest in life in Callahan County during Robert E. Howard’s era should read Nordyke’s Nubbin Ridge, a memoir of his life on the family farm near Cottonwood.

Several persons were arrested in the Cross Cut and Blake communities of Brown County for selling liquor, including a deputy sheriff.

June 21, 1929

Extension of Katy Branch to Abilene: From the time that officials of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (MKT, or Katy) decided to run a spur line from DeLeon to Cross Plains, there had been interest in extending that line to Abilene. This is another lengthy article boosting the idea. Nothing ever came of it.

June 28, 1929

Cross Plains The City Where Dreams Come True

Editors Note: No better picture of the type of man and womanhood that first settled Cross Plains could probably be sketched from an artist’s pen than the following editorial clipped from the Cross Plains Review, February 24, 1911. It breathes of the spirit that prompted those sturdy pioneers of more than a score of years ago to match their strength and wits against adversities of this then inhabited West. It is published herein because of the encouragement that it should be to us to Carry On in times such as these.

If a thousand years are but as a watch in the night, the great heart of the ages has hardly throbbed a beat since the Indians left the Cross Plains country. Yesterday we had the cowboy, the coyote and long-horn cattle. Tick tock, goes the great clock, and we have the thriving railroad town, and a country thickly dotted with nice farm houses and people with happy and prosperous farmers. What a country of dreams we have. Not idle unreasonable dreams, but beautiful dreams come true. God said let there be light and there was light. He smiled and there was Cross Plains. [The article continues, but that's enough for you to get the gist of it.]

June 3, 1932

Norris Chambers was running a “Children’s Bedtime Story” series in the Review every week; this week’s offering was “The Paradise Beyond.” [Norris was the son of Solomon Chambers, one of Dr. Howard's best friends, and is well known to Howard fans as a font of information on REH and his family.]

In a listing of Professional services, Dr. I.M. Howard was “Giving Special Attention to Stomach and Intestinal Diseases.” He had an office over the Citizens State Bank (where the Staghorn Cafe is now).

The Liberty was showing Buck Jones in “The Fighting Sheriff.” Coming Monday and Tuesday, “Business and Pleasure,” with Will Rogers.

June 10, 1932

Norris Chambers’ offering this week in “Children’s Bedtime Story” was “The Razenian Genius,” Chapter IV, “Danger Threatens.”

June 17, 1932

Farrow Case Is Set Wednesday: Case of Walter Farrow, Cross Plains cafe man billed for murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Archie Davidson, 29, here Saturday night, will come up in district court at Baird Wednesday. Judge S.M. Long set his bond at $3,500. [REH fans should be familiar with this shooting. He mentioned it in a long list of shootings described in a letter to August Derleth, July 4, 1935: “And there was Arch Davidson, the last man killed in a fight in this town – he was warned to keep out of Walt Farrow’s place, but he kicked open the door and lurched in, in his bravado – and there he froze suddenly, with the knowledge of death on him, in the glare in Farrow’s eyes, in the sixshooter in Farrow’s lifted hand. Then the gun crashed and the bullet tore his brains out and hurled him headfirst out into the crowded street, where women shrieked suddenly to see that limp shape lying with the shattered head in a slowly widening pool of crimson.”]

Court of C.C. Rules Against Jerry Kent: Jerry Kent, Cross Plains youth who is under 40 year sentence for the slaying of his grand uncle, Bob Ensor, has again seen his dim ray of hope to evade “prison walls” fade starkly before him. The court of criminal appeals at Austin, which affirmed the case in May, Wednesday over-ruled the appealant’s motion for rehearing. [Another case mentioned by REH in the letter to Derleth: “I remember the last time I saw Bob Ensor – coming out into the road out of the hills where he had lived for more than fifty years, he and his wife in single file like Indians, and he tall and lean and dark and silent, with much of the Indian in him – a brave and dangerous man, quiet, decent, whose record as a deputy marshal was without a stain. A week later he was dead not far from where I saw him last – shot down from the brush in an old feud that had smoldered for thirty years.” Judging from the news accounts, I’m inclined to agree with Jack Scott’s assessment of Howard’s relating of these stories as “hyperbolic.”]

Queen of Sky Sails Over Cross Plains: The silvery sided dirigible Akron, mightiest airship aloft, sailed majestically past Cross Plains Sunday afternoon, shortly before seven o’clock. The elevation is said to have been approximately 5,400 feet. Hundreds of local people saw the giant dirigible, which remained in vision more than 20 minutes. Its speed was reported by the Associated Press to have been 50 miles an hour average. The ship was enroute to Lakehurst, NJ from San Francisco.

The ad for Smith Drug Store and Cross Plains Drug Store was headed “Just Selling Drugs.” “I ain’t mad at nobody,” it declared, “because I don’t meddle in other people’s affairs. I simply mind my own business — and that is to sell you the best Drugs, Toilet Articles and Sundries that money can buy.” You could get a 10 cent bar of Palmolive soap for only a nickel, or a four-ounce jug of imported olive oil for 29 cents.

Dr. and Mrs. I.M. Howard and Robert left the first of the week for Marlin. Dr. Howard will do special observation in the Marlin clinics, where he is accorded exceptional fraternal privileges.

June 24, 1932

Jury Out On Farrow Case: Excerpt: “Farrow appeared cool in the courtroom until he took the stand. he was nervous under the rapid fire questioning of the district attorney. He testified that he was so nervous and excited the night of the killing that he could not exactly remember things that happened in that connection.

“‘Archie had a wild look in his eye and I thought he was coming over the counter after me,’ Farrow stated.”

The jury’s verdict was not available at press time. (Farrow was convicted of “murder without malice” and given a three-year suspended sentence.)

In an article about the hiring of a new agriculture teacher for the high school is this: “Announcement was made to the board, while in session Monday night, by Superintendent Nat Williams that Cross Plains high school had regained state affiliation in fourth year English, a credit which was lost two years ago. Work done by Miss Enid Gwathmey and English students during the past school term received commendation from the state department.” [Enid Gwathmey was a cousin of Novalyne Price; she and Williams figure prominently in One Who Walked Alone.]

Norris Chambers’ “Children’s Bedtime Story” was “The Razenian Genius,” Chapter VII, “Loop the Loop.”

June 2, 1933

‘Wire Artist’ Here Saturday: Bunny Dryden Will Walk Wire 40 Feet In Sky Tomorrow: Bunny Dryden, theatrically called ‘The Great Lafayette,’ will walk across Main Street on a high wire, 40 feet above the pavement, here Saturday. His exhibition is being brought to Cross Plains by local merchants.

Norris Chambers took over the “Cross Cut” news column in the Review. He wrote “It remains to be seen whether we can successfully keep up this news column. It seems as if we have always done things backwards. We tried to write bed-time stories, and we turned out Gothic Romance without a particle of realism; we attempted to produce a few novels, they were only extended bed-time stories, so don’t be surprised if this column turns out to be a regularly kept DIARY instead of a chronicle.”

At the Liberty, you could see “Somewhere in Sonora,” starring John Wayne. Monday and Tuesday would bring Will Rogers in “Too Busy To Work.” Admission was 10 cents or 15 cents.

June 9, 1933

Highway 36 Is Now Designated To Here From Gulf Coast: Highway 36 from the Gulf Coast through Comanche has been designated to Cross Plains. [Unfortunately, my copy of this is difficult to read. But at the time, there was no Highway 36 coming into Cross Plains from the east (from Rising Star) and continuing on to Abilene (past the Howard House). This was the earliest news of the highway’s coming.]

The Liberty was showing “Speed Demon.” Monday and Tuesday would bring Warner Baxter in “Dangerously Yours,” with Zane Grey’s “Robber’s Roost,” starring George O’Brien, scheduled for the following Friday and Saturday.

At the Palace Theatre in Cisco, the feature on Sunday and Monday was “Peg O’ My Heart,” with Marion Davies, followed on Thursday and Friday by Maurice Chevalier in “A Bedtime Story.”

June 16, 1933

Highway 36 Looms As A Reality: Temporary surveys on highway 36, from the Gulf Coast through Cross Plains to Abilene, began Thursday morning and those familiar with the project informed the Review yesterday at noon that possibilities of the road actually being constructed were highly probable. A recent law passed by the federal government would pay for the road. The only obstacle facing local citizens is that of securing a 100 foot right of way from here to the Western portion of the county line.

Great Britain Publisher Asks Cross Plains Author For All Manuscripts

The writing of Robert E. Howard, of this place, have reached across the ocean, invading England with a storm of popularity.

One of Great Britain’s largest publishing concerns recently made request for his future works and even offered premiums on scores of articles and stories that had been published in this country.

Dennis Archer, Publisher (The Search Publishing Company) at London has asked the Cross Plains author to submit a collection of his stories formerly published in various magazines, with the view of bringing them out in book form. This company is incorporated under the Royal Charter of England and includes in its advertising catalogues the works of Anton de Bruyne, Michael Arlen, Brandon Fleming, Lord Dunsany and Countess of Warwick.

Robert Howard, who is the son of Dr. and Mrs. I.M. Howard, of this place, has been writing successfully and profitably for more than eight years. Stonestreet and Smith, publishers of no less than a dozen largest selling magazines on American newsstands, have printing his manuscripts as fast as they are turned out and are pressing him for more.

Almost every month he is featured by one of the publications on its cover page.

Despite the renown success with which the Cross Plains author has already met, the recent offer of the England publishing company is perhaps the bright spot in his career of letters and bids fair to win him international prominence.

It has been a tradition among writers for decades that the hardest publications ‘to crack’ — sell stories to — were those in England. Robert Howard’s recent success in this line and because of the fact that the Great Britain company solicited his articles places him in a class by himself. Other American novelists and freelance writers regard his recent achievement as accomplishing the impossible and will perhaps watch his career anxiously.

[Whew! What a dazzling feat of press agentry! The true story is somewhat more prosaic, and has a less glorious outcome -- Howard did send them a short story collection, they returned it saying that such collections weren’t going well at the moment but encouraging him to send a novel, which he did (The Hour of the Dragon), only to have the company go into receivership.]

The Liberty had “Robber’s Roost” with George O’Brien, to be followed on Monday and Tuesday by Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in “Tess of the Storm Country.”

Gaynor was also the lead in “Adorable,” at the Palace in Cisco.

June 23, 1933

Juakana Westerman and Jack Scott Are Wed Thursday Noon: [Jack and “Kanie” would be married for 67 years, until her death in 2000. Jack passed away three years later.]

The annual picnic this year would be the 50th anniversary event, and was scheduled for July 26.

At the Liberty: Buck Jones in “White Eagle.” Monday and Tuesday, “Second Hand Wife” with Sally Eilers and Ralph Bellamy.

That’s all there’s time for in this installment: gotta pack our bags for Cross Plains, where I hope we’ll see a bunch of you!

If you’d like to learn more about Cross Plains and its history, check out Ann Beeler’s delightful new book, Footsteps of Approaching Thousands. It’s available from the Cross Plains Public Library, which will be the beneficiary of all profits from the book.

noun

1a. a sweetheart; b. a fine chap

[origin: archaic; ca 1538; probably from Middle Dutch boele lover; akin to Middle Low German bole lover, Middle High German buole]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Many were slaughtered in that final charge;
Along the rail we saw the gunners kneel,
And then the world turned red with screaming steel,
But on we plunged, wild firing, wide and large,
Our bullies fell in rows along the marge;
Blindly we felt deep water under heel,
Swarmed up the anchor chains to roar and reel
With all the yelling devils of the barge.

A giant bashaw cleft eight Cossack skulls,
And then his saber met a blade of flame—
And as his ships went down with blazing hulls:
“Allah!” he screamed, “Thou swine—what is thy name?”
Our captain’s rapier leaped—a fire of blue.
And “John Paul Jones!” said he, and ran him through.

[from “An Incident of the Muscovy-Turkish War”; this complete poem also appears in The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 530 and A Rhyme of Salem Town, p. 96]

About two weeks ago I posted over at the TGR blog on the fire that nearly consumed Cross Plains in December of 2005.  In Cross Plains’ 100 year history there have been many fires, some during Howard’s lifetime – though the most recent one was the worst.

The Cross Plains Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1926, before that they depended on everyone pitching in when a fire broke out to form a bucket brigade. Here are accounts of two fires from a Dallas newspaper, one before the fire department was established and one after the department was operational. One of the buildings damaged was the Cross Plains Drug Store, where Howard would one day work jerking soda.

$40,000 Fire Loss At Cross Plains
Half Block Of South Main Street Business District Is Destroyed.
Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas Apr 1923
Special to The News.

Cross Plains, Callahan Co., Texas, April 2.- Fire originating in the kitchen of the L & S Café here early this morning completely destroyed a half block of the South Main Street business district, with an estimated loss of $40,000 to $50,000.

The café, Reeder Barber Shop, Majestic Theater and Texas Café were wiped out, with all contents and a racket store owned by G. W. Cunningham, was badly gutted.

The Cross Plains Drug Company, Fashion Shop and the E. H. & A. Davis Clothing Store sustained heavy water damage.

The flames were checked before reaching the interiors of these buildings.

Damage to the racket store, Reeder Barber Shop, Cross Plains Drug Company, Fashion Shop and the Davis Clothing Store is said to be partially covered by insurance, but the other firms are without insurance.

Cross Plains Hotel Burns
Three Business Houses at Pioneer Are Destroyed.
Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas 2 Aug 1927
Special to The News.

Cross Plains, Texas, Aug. 1.- Fire discovered at 3 a.m. Monday destroyed the thirty-room Grace Hotel and adjacent plant of the Cross Plains Bakery. Both buildings were of frame construction.

The fire originated in the walls between the buildings and guests in the hotel escaped through burning halls and in most instances clothing and all personal effects were lost. The loss totals about $15,000, with but little insurance.

The Cross Plains chemical truck had returned only a few hours earlier from Pioneer, where a call for assistance was answered when fire broke out in a drug store, rapidly spreading to adjacent buildings, with a loss of about $8,000 before being brought under control.

The burned buildings at Cross Plains will likely be replaced with buildings of fireproof construction.

The chemical truck referred to above was most likely one of these, which carried four 40-gallon soda and acid tanks.

I know this story has nothing to do with Cross Plains, but I thought it had a humorous title. (Though not too funny for the victims, but hey, who in their right mind tosses sticks of dynamite around like firecrackers anyway.)

Man Celebrating Christmas Uses Dynamite–Blown to Atoms.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth, Texas 26 Dec 1910
Special to The Star Telegram.

ORANGE, Texas, Dec. 26 – Bob Harrington, 26, lighted the fuse of a stick of dynamite and attempted to throw it from the window of a cab Sunday evening, but it struck the ledge, fell at his feet and instantly exploded. Harrington was blown to atoms, his companion, P. Buhrman, probably fatally injured, and the cab completely demolished.

Harrington had several sticks of dynamite, in his pocket and was using them to celebrate Christmas.

Buhrman sustained a badly torn hand and limb, and it is thought to have internal injuries.

As the snows blow cold here in NW Indiana (and most parts of the country, actually) it’s the very best time to turn our thoughts to the warmer upcoming months. Specifically, Robert E. Howard Days in Cross Plains, Texas, is happening once again in 2011 (“officially”) on June 10 & 11. Hope you can make plans to be there. There will be many more details forthcoming this week as we get the REH Days Information Page tuned up for 2011, so hang with us and stay tuned.

This year, under the sponsorship of The Robert E. Howard Foundation and Project Pride of Cross Plains, with assistance from the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, our “theme” is all about Howard History. 2011 marks four unique anniversaries upon which will will devote our festivities. Cross Plains, Texas is already celebrating it’s 100th anniversary as an incorporated town (you can follow this on Facebook right now), it’s the 75th year of honoring the Legacy of REH, it’s the 50th anniversary of Glenn Lord’s benchmark Howard publication, The Howard Collector, and it’s the 25th anniversary of the very first Robert E. Howard Days.

Keeping that history angle in mind, we’ve chosen two Legendary REH publishers to be our Co-Guests of Honor this year: Damon Sasser and Dennis McHaney. Those of you familiar with Howard Fandom will of course recognize Damon and Dennis and we’re happy to have them at Howard Days to talk and be available to their legions of fans. Damon is the publisher of REH: Two-Gun Raconteur (“The definitive Howard Fanzine”) and runs the REH: TGR blog, and Dennis’ The Howard Review is his ultimate claim to fame (among others) in a nearly 40 year career as as a REH publisher. Dennis also runs the biggest REH message board at rehinnercircle.com.

There’s lots more info to come here on the REHupa site, plus there’ll be info at the REH Foundation site, Damon’s TGR blog and Conan.com. We’re in the process of setting up the scheduling for Howard Days, plus there’ll be some truly fantastic events happening if everything falls into place this year. All of the familiar fan-friendly events are still happening: House & Town tours, Banquet & Silent Auction, Swap Meet, Postal Cancellation, Saturday BBQ plus a plethora of interesting panels & hopefully some special events.

Ok, if that’s not enough enticement, keep your radio dial tuned here for updates and more detailed information. In the meantime, shouldn’t you be making your plans to get to Howard Days this year? We’ll be looking for you! Y’all come!