Introduction | REH
and Texas - The Early Years | REH and Texas - Finding
Cimmeria | Marlin
| Mineral Wells | Waco
| Fort McKavett | Gonzales
and Goliad | San
Antonio and the Hill Country | Rio
Grande Valley | Conclusion | Additional Notes
Robert E. Howard and
his fictional creation, Conan of Cimmeria, were born in Texas.
The milieu into which one is born always has its influence.
The extent of Texas’ effect on Conan is not immediately
apparent though. Robert
E. Howard’s personal letters are full of Texas history and his
best horror stories were influenced by regional lore, but Conan is
set in a semi-medieval pre-historic fantasy age that is a lot more
Eurasian than Texan.
One certain proof of
Texas’ influence on REH is in his own words that Conan was a
combination of “prize fighters, gunmen, bootleggers, oil field
bullies, gamblers and honest workmen I had come in contact with
[…].”[1] One can also point to the Conan story, “Beyond the Black
River.” REH wrote
to H. P. Lovecraft, “In [this] Conan story I’ve […]
abandoned the exotic settings […] and thrown my story against a
background of forests and rivers, log cabins, frontier outposts,
buckskin-clad settlers, and painted tribesmen.”[2] Still, the bulk of the Conan stories are set in
pseudo-mythical kingdoms that are more Oriental, African, and
European than Texan.
Whatever the full
extent of Texas’ influence on REH may be there is enough of an
influence that REH’s Texas should be examined by anyone
interested in his writings. REH was clearly fascinated with
frontier life and wished he had been born into that era. “To a man of intellectual accomplishments the life of a
frontiersman would be intolerable; but to a man who has never
known anything else, such a life would be full of vital
interest.”[3] REH’s view of civilization as an impermanent solution to
mankind’s bestial nature and the superior survival instincts of
the uncivilized man are hallmarks of the Conan series.
Texas in the 21st
Century is as much myth as fact. Howard’s family was of a generation only shortly removed
from the myth. Howard’s
father was born in 1871. The
battle for the Alamo was in 1836.
Texas’ known first
human settlers were Llano Indians, named for the Llano Estacado
(Stalked Plain). The
Spanish arrived in 1519. The
Spanish remained more interested in Florida for the next 100
years. Franciscan
missions were built in 1682.
The French claimed east Texas around 1685. More missions were built to counter the French presence.
San Antonio became the Spanish capital of Texas in 1768.
Non-Spanish Americans
began entering into Texas in 1801.
These adventurers and pirates were known as
“filibusters” (an irregular military adventurer, especially
one who supports revolution in a foreign country).
President Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase in
1803. Based on the
French claims, the United States claimed about half of Texas.
Around this same time, Mexico began its fight for
independence from Spain. Jean
LeFitte, a hero to Americans for his role in our war of
Independence, became a pirate operating in Galveston.
In 1819, the Adams-Onis
Treaty set Louisiana as United States territory.
Texas was left in Spanish hands.
To counter the Indian threat, Spain invited U. S. citizens
to settle in Texas providing they convert to Catholicism.
Colonies were established but the settlers remained
Protestants.
In 1824, Mexico
formally declared its independence.
Texas became part of Mexico.
Mexican democracy was short-lived.
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna became the dictator of
Mexico. Texans
initially supported him, thinking he would be less restrictive
than the Spanish. Stephen
Austin began the fight for Texas independence.
He was jailed for one year.
October 2, 1835 began the Texas Revolution with the Battle
of Gonzales. Fights
at Goliad, Concepcion, Bexar, and the Alamo followed.
The Goliad Massacre in
1836 became a turning point.
The Mexican army executed 342 Texans who had surrendered.
Texas passion was enflamed and the battle for independence
grew. Sam Houston
defeated the Mexican army in the Battle of San Jacinto.
Cries of “Remember the Alamo” and “Remember Goliad”
won Texas its independence on May 14, 1836. 1845 saw Texas becoming the 28th state.
Texas sided with the
Confederacy and seceded from the Union in 1861.
The Civil War was good for the American Indians.
Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache thrived in west Texas.
After the Civil War, numerous forts were established to
counter them. The
Reconstruction Era began. African-American
males were given the right to vote and quite a few Texans reacted
by joining the Ku Klux Klan.
The great cattle
drives began in 1860. The
American Indians were shuttled to reservations.
1880 saw the last of any Indian battles.
Cotton, cattle, and railroads turned Texas into a booming
state. A populist era
began in 1891. Texas
farmers were angry at the railroad monopolies and elected as
Governor, James S. Hogg. In
1892, African-American cowboy, Bill Pickett invented the rodeo
spectacle of steer wrestling.
John Wesley Hardin murdered 41 men before being shot
himself in 1895. A
hurricane and tidal wave devastated Galveston in 1900.
In 1901 the “Spindletop” oil well began gushing out
800,000 barrels of oil, ushering in a new era for Texas.
Then in 1906, Robert
E. Howard was born in Peaster.
It is well known among
REH fans that he was born on January 22 in Peaster, Texas. “The
Howard’s at that time lived in Dark Valley, a community of some 50
souls in Palo Pinto County, near the Parker County border; but Dr.
Howard had taken his wife to Peaster, […], as her confinement drew
near.”[4]
Robert Howard remembered his early years in Dark Valley as a
gloomy fear-fraught place. REH wrote poems such as “The Dweller in
Dark Valley” (most easily found in Echoes From An Iron Harp,
Grant, 1972) that suggest a great horror in Dark Valley. The
Howard biography by L. Sprague de Camp was named Dark Valley
Destiny. De Camp says: “[Howard’s] description of the valley
was based on feelings that had their roots in the earliest years
of his life. He intensified the properties of the terrain to
reflect his emotional tone or mood as an adult and to make a
statement about the nature of his experiences, the memory of which
lay beyond his recall.” Clearly, memories of Dark Valley had their
effect on Robert E. Howard and his writings. The Howard family
also lived briefly near Oran.
After
that, and until the Howard family settled in Cross Plains, REH’s
early years are not as clear.
In the period from 1906 – 1918 the Howard family moved
about the state of Texas. In
a letter to H. P. Lovecraft Howard detailed his various homes in
his first several years. “a land-boom town near the New Mexico
border on the Llano Estacado [Seminole]; San Antonio [also
Poteet]; a home in the West Texas sheep country [Bronte]; a cattle
town near the Oklahoma line [possibly Burkburnett or somewhere
near Wichita Falls]; Bagwell in the pines of East Texas; the oil
belt of West Central Texas [Burkett and Cross Cut].”[5]
These early
moves had their input into Howard’s writing of course. One such
place, Bagwell, had a definite influence. Bagwell was a cotton
center for the railroads. It was in Bagwell that REH listened to
the ghost stories of Mary Bohannon and Arabella Davis, thus
inspiring REH’s classic horror story, “Pigeons from Hell.” “[…]
Mary Bohannon never left Bagwell. She died at her home in Bagwell
at an advanced age on Feb. 27, 1921. Her death certificate states
she was 100 years old at the time of her death and was buried at
the Becknell Cemetery. Her grave is unmarked.”[6]
Howard was most likely 7 – 8 years old when he lived in Bagwell.
Bagwell had exceptionally rainy weather when Howard lived there.
Howard wrote: “It rained for weeks at a time; rained until the
ground turned green; rained until the fish swam around in the
roads.”[7]
It was at this time that Howard developed a bad case of catarrh
(inflammation of the mucous membrane) that prompted the family’s
move back to west Texas. “Bagwell had a school. […] it was a
converted house, painted white, with lacy Victorian woodwork
trimming the porches and eaves. Here Robert entered the first
grade.”[8]
A photo of the schoolhouse is available at:
www.rootsweb.com/~txredriv/index.html
Things in Texas had
their input as well. In
1908, Texas boxing sensation, Jack Johnson became the first
African-American heavyweight champion of the world.
Oil exploration in preparation and reaction to WWI was on
the rise. A group of
businessmen struck black gold in Ranger.
The population grew from 1000 to 6000 in a short time.
As the population grew, so did the greed.
Prices for basic commodities skyrocketed. Prohibition
passed but Ranger was chockfull of whisky halls, gambling rooms,
and brothels. “In
one 24-hour period the town had five murders, and crime became so
common that people called the Ranger Daily Times the Daily
Crimes.”[9] Howard lived in and near oil-boom towns.
In 1915 while REH was
probably living in Cross Cut he wrote his first story.
It was about a Danish Viking named Bœalf. In 1919, REH’s father took a medical course at Tulane
University in New Orleans. It was there, at a library on Canal Street, that REH found a
history book full of information on the Picts.
This of course led to Bran Mak Morn, Brule, and the
antagonists in “Beyond the Black River.”
Also, New Orleans has been suggested as the setting for the
Conan story, “Shadows in Zamboula.”
It is easy to see that
REH remembered his early travels and incorporated some of these
things into his fiction. It
was in 1919 that the Howard family settled in Cross Plains.
Even though REH made
his permanent home (outside of extended stays for school to
Brownwood) in Cross Plains he traveled quite a bit around Texas. Howard biographer Rusty Burke wrote an article “Travels
With Bob” that appeared in the April 2000 mailing of REHupa. Rusty’s article is an invaluable reference for anyone
interested in visiting some of the same Texas country that REH
traveled. The
intention of this section is to add photographs, detail about
certain Texas cities and events, and to end up in Cimmeria.
One of Howard’s
frequent trips from Cross Plains was to Marlin.
The discovery of hot artesian wells turned Marlin into a
health resort. A
pavilion welcoming visitors with hot mineral water still exists
today next to the city’s Chamber of Commerce.
The city was quite prosperous in its day.
A “Hilton” Hotel was built in 1929.
It still stands but only the ground floor is used.
In Marlin, REH
became friends with F. Thurston Torbett.
“Several years older than Bob, Torbett was the son and
nephew of a pair of physicians.
His uncle, J. W. Torbett, owned a sanitarium […].
The senior Howards often visited the sanitarium […].”[10] REH and Torbett collaborated on a story “A Thunder of
Trumpets” published in 1937.
The Torbett
Sanitarium was located at 508 Coleman Street.
Today that address belongs to a local hospital.
The downtown area of Marlin is mostly composed of antique
stores along with some small businesses.
Marlin has a sizeable African-American population and
Main Street also houses a gallery dedicated to black artists.
The Falls County Museum has several exhibits and features
some information about J. W. Torbett.
More information about Marlin can be found at:
http://www.marlintexas.com/history.htm
Another health
resort town that REH traveled to is Mineral Wells.
The discovery of medicinal qualities in the water in 1885
made this a booming health resort in the early 1900’s.
Towering above the city in majestic splendor was the
Baker Hotel. Today
the Baker is a hollow shell gutted of its velvet draperies and
ornate wall fixtures. The
hotel featured a full spa and was the home of a Texas radio
station that in its heyday beamed out live broadcasts featuring
the music of Bob Wills and the comedy of the Three Stooges among
others. Whether REH
ever splurged and stayed at the Baker Hotel is doubtful.
REH visited Waco
quite often to see football games at Baylor University.
Baylor was chartered in 1845.
It is the largest Baptist University in the world.
Baylor football is still a huge attraction.
More information about the Baylor Bears can be found at: http://baylorbears.ocsn.com/
Waco is named for
the Indians that first inhabited the area.
Waco is still a prosperous city but it was even more so
in REH’s day. Texas’
first suspension bridge and skyscraper were first erected in
Waco. The Waco
Suspension Bridge was built in 1870.
It was the first pedestrian and wagon bridge across the
Brazos River. Waco is also famous as the home of the soft drink, Dr.
Pepper. A museum
commemorating the 1906 invention is a popular tourist
attraction. The
Amicable Life Building (now known as the Alico Building due to
the red neon letters added in 1959) at 22 stories was the
tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was built in
1911. It is easy to
see why REH called Waco “a hell of a town” in an August 1928
letter to Harold Preece.[11]
Waco was also the
home of a popular area bookstore, Von Blon’s.
REH is known to have purchased several books there. The store was located at 416 Franklin Street.
Today a music store fills the building. There was a devastating tornado that hit Waco in 1953. Several of the downtown area businesses were destroyed. Franklin Street was relatively unscathed; and of course,
the Alico Building survived, although it swayed as much as 6
feet during the tornado.
REH is known to have
written H. P. Lovecraft about a popular Waco writer, William
Cowper Brann. Brann
is known for his magazine, The Iconoclast.
The Iconoclast was published from 1895 to 1898,
until shortly after Brann’s death. Brann’s death fascinated REH.
Brann’s magazine was a huge success, he became known
for his controversial stands and barbed writing.
The magazine sold over 120,000 copies a month. Brann wrote increasingly critical articles about Baylor
University that upset the town hierarchy.
A Waco businessman, Tom Davis, shot Brann. Brann shot back. Both
men died from their wounds the following day.
Brann couldn’t be allowed to rest in piece. His tombstone was also shot.
Brann’s gravesite can be viewed at: www.findagrave.com/pictures/4671.html
REH never commented
on Brann’s writing, only his death; but REH most likely read
Brann’s article, “Is Suicide a Sin?”
Brann wrote: “With the most of us life at its best is
no luxury, but a fierce struggle from the cradle to the grave
– days of toil and anxiety, suffering and sin, with here and
there a bright oasis redolent with songs of birds and the
perfume of a thousand flowers, making by contrast the desert
seem more drear. We
struggle valiantly – for what?
To maintain an existence that is a mistake […].”[12]
In a letter to
August Derleth, REH wrote: “I’ve been […] up to old Fort
Griffin, on the Clear Fork of the Brazos; to Stamford, about a
hundred and thirty miles north west of this town, where they
have the big annual West Texas rodeo and cowboy reunion the
third, fourth, and fifth of each July.”[13]
REH’s was clearly interested in cowboy and Texas lore.
REH is known to have
visited Ft. McKavett and it is one of the few places where we
have surviving photographs of REH.
He sent snapshots to both H.P. Lovecraft and August
Derleth.
REH wrote that he felt like a Goth warrior standing among
the ruins of Rome when visiting here.
Fort McKavett has a
rather bland history though.
It began as a civilian settlement associated with the
military outpost. The
camp closed in 1859 and was mostly abandoned.
The military reactivated the fort in 1868. The town grew and the fort was closed in 1883.
In examining any
Texas writer as patriotic about his state as REH was, it is
essential to discuss the Texas revolution.
The Alamo has the John Wayne movie but Gonzales was where
it all started. It
is nicknamed the “Lexington of Texas.”
“On October 2,
1835, Texans led by John H. Moore resisted Mexican dragoons sent
to retrieve the town cannon. Challenging the Mexicans to “come and take it,” the Texans
rallied around the gun and fought the battle of Gonzales, the
first skirmish of the Texas Revolution."[14]
Goliad is one of the
oldest Spanish cities of Texas.
The presidio La Bahia was built in 1721 to halt French
settlement. It was
relocated to Goliad in 1749.
In 1835, a group of Texans attacked the Presidio and took
possession of the fort. Texas
Independence was declared at the Presidio on December 20, 1835.
But Texas Independence was not so easily won.
On Palm Sunday,
March 27, 1836, Colonel James Walker Fannin and 341 men were
executed after their capture at the Battle of Coleto Creek.
The news of this slaughter enraged Texans and “Remember
Goliad” became a rallying war cry.
Howard had definite
feelings about Goliad and felt it influenced Texas behavior.
In a letter to H. P. Lovecraft, REH wrote: “[…] the
memory of Mexican treachery is still too fresh in the minds of
Texans – the betrayals and massacres at Goliad, Mier, and
elsewhere – for them to take much stock in such declarations.
But Americans along the border seem not inclined to trust
their southern neighbors overmuch."[15]
Goliad has a town
square, which was a common site for mob justice.
The courthouse has a historic marker showing where the
“hanging tree” was frequently used.
In 1936, for the Texas Centennial, work was started on
restoring the Mission Nuestra Senora del Espiritu Santo de
Zuniga. It is
located at Goliad State Park.
The grave of Colonel James W. Fannin, Jr. is in Goliad as
well. Nearby is the
town of Fannin. A
monument marks the Battle of Coleto Creek.
REH visited San
Antonio several times and mentioned the Alamo, the Spanish
Governor’s Palace, and the Buckhorn Saloon.
Photos of all these places are easily available on the
Internet. If you
wish to see old photos of San Antonio (and several other Texas
cities) you should consider purchasing some books from Arcadia
Publishing. They
have several books featuring old photographs and postcards of
Texas. For more
information see: www.arcadiapublishing.com
The Texas Hill
Country begins in Lampasas.
REH’s mother lived here as a child.
Lampasas was originally named Burleson until it became
the county seat of Lampasas County.
It was famous for its sulpher springs.
REH was interested in the Horrell-Higgins shootout that
occurred in the town. There
were five Horrell brothers, all them prone to trouble and
violence. Their
violent career led to a shootout in 1873 with the State Police.
Captain Thomas Williams and seven men went to Lampasas to
enforce some measure of law.
There was a saloon shootout that resulted in Williams’
death, 3 dead police, and a badly wounded Horrell brother.
Matt Horrell was imprisoned but broke out with the help
of his brothers. They
stayed in Lampasas for a while but then moved onto New Mexico.
They got involved in a skirmish there.
Seventeen men died including a Horrell and a
brother-in-law. They
returned to Lampasas and surrendered to the authorities.
They were tried for Williams’ murder but acquitted.
They then quarreled with John Pinckney Calhoun “Pink”
Higgins. Pink
Higgins killed one Horrell in the same saloon that the Horrells
killed Williams. A
feud began. The Higgins and the Horrells were both in town doing
business. A
shootout began by the courthouse.
The townsfolk convinced the two feuding families to leave
town. The Texas
Rangers were brought in and achieved and brokered a peace
settlement. In
1878, Tom and Mart Horrell were killed by a mob that believed
they had robbed and murdered a local storekeeper.
The only surviving Horrell moved to Oregon and later
California. Pink
Higgins died at his home in 1913.
Of special interest
to Conan fans would be REH’s trips to Fredericksburg.
It was during one of these trips that Howard saw the
surrounding mountains misted in clouds and was later inspired to
write the poem Cimmeria. (More
on this below.) Fredericksburg
was settled by German immigrants in 1846.
The town has an almost European feel to it.
Howard was a fan of a local wine produced here by a
Ludwig Borauer. That
winery is no longer known but Fredericksburg retains its German
influence and has popular wineries.
Near Fredericksburg is a mountain known locally as
Enchanted Rock. The
large rock formation suggests a place where only a hardy breed
could live.
The Texas Hill
Country is a particularly nice part of Texas. Howard also traveled through Kerrville. Kerrville is a nice picturesque town located on the Guadalupe
River. Nearby is
Lost Maples, a beautiful area prone to mist covered days.
The hills here could also have inspired REH.
REH probably would
have traveled through Crystal City on his way south “where his
aunt and uncle lived, and where he remembered seeing a meteor as
a child.”.[16] It is known for its spinach crop.
In 1937, the town put up a statue of Popeye, the fighting
sailor. Popeye was
introduced to the world in the syndicated comic strip Thimble
Theater in 1928. Once
Ham Gravy yelled, “Hey there! Are you a sailor?” and
received the sarcastic reply, “’Ja think I’m a cowboy?”
Popeye’s stardom was assured.
REH would have had to been aware of Popeye while writing
of his own fighting sailors, Steve Costigan and Dennis Dorgan.
In 1932, Howard made
a trip to San Antonio to buy knives and swords for his
collection. “From
San Antonio, Howard traveled southward to the Rio Grande Valley,
where he experimented with Mexican food and wandered up the
valley as far as Rio Grande City."[17] It was on this trip that Howard wrote the poem
“Cimmeria.” The
first published Conan story, “The Phoenix on the Sword”
appeared later that year.
REH wrote to Emil
Petaja on December 17, 1934.
In the letter he enclosed a poem entitled,
“Cimmeria.” Howard wrote on the paper: “Written in Mission, Texas,
February 1932; suggested by the memory of the hill-country above
Fredericksburg seen in a mist of winter rain."[18]
That Conan was born
in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas (Mission is located
here) is also known from REH’s quote: “Conan simply grew up
in my mind a few years ago when I was stopping in a little
border town on the lower Rio Grande.
I did not create him by any conscious process.
He simply stalked full grown out of oblivion and set me
at work recording the saga of his adventures."[19]
Whether the area had
any influence over Conan’s adventures is a matter of
speculation. Howard
did notice that Starr County (where Mission and Rio Grande City
are located) “is
predominantly Mexican. Rio Grande City [has] only about twelve
civilian white families there […] Of course, Fort Ringgold is
at Rio Grande City, and there are lots of white soldiers
there."[20] Howard was conscious of his Irish roots and perhaps felt
the outsider in this environ; yet the presence of Fort Ringgold
would reaffirm that his was a conquering race. The outsider as
dominator is a hallmark of the Conan tales.
It isn’t hard to relate REH’s penchant for traveling
around Texas to Conan’s traveling around the Hyborian World.
REH welcomed his forays into south Texas and Mexico.
He readily partook of the native food and culture.
His letters tell of encounters with many interesting
people. Unlike
Conan, whose travels led to a kingship, REH had to return home
to earn a living and lend support to his family.
Rio Grande City is
heavily Mexican and Catholic.
The town has a beautiful grotto that replicates the
famous shrine in Lourdes, France.
The town also has an historic inn, the La Borde House.
Perhaps REH stayed here.
In a letter to T. C. Smith written on September 7, 1924
REH mentions crossing the Rio Grande.
“It cost just 50 centavos.
There is a bar on every street.
You get quite thirsty in the heat.
I am a temperance man, confound it.
Down with all liquor! So I downed it."[21] The oldest ferry in the area is the still operating Los
Ebanos Ferry.
At some point before or after REH’s visit to Fort Ringgold and
his stay in Mission he wrote “Cimmeria.” “The
nation of his hero’s birth Howard named Cimmeria, after the
fogbound western land visited by Odysseus in the Odyssey.
Howard pretended that his Cimmerians were the descendants
of the Atlanteans and the ancestors of the Celts, thus in fancy
tracing his own descent from Kull and Conan."[22] Fort Ringgold now serves partially as a public school.
The football team is known as the Rattlers.
In 1927, REH and
Truett Vinson visited Austin and met two influential friends
there, Harold Preece and Booth Mooney.[23]
Preece helped spark Howard’s interest in things Celtic and Mooney
became the editor of The Junto, a literary project that they all
contributed too. It is undoubtedly
significant that the capital of Texas contains a popular place
very closely associated with the Cimmerian.
The Frazetta artwork dominated eating place known as
Conan’s Pizza. Conan’s
Pizza is not really trading on REH’s name in any significant
way. The owner’s
were simply fans. As
the popularity of Conan grew so did the need for copyright
enforcement. CPI
tried to sue the establishment for copyright infringement at one
low point. The case
was lost due to de Camp’s earlier visit and praise for the
establishment in a written letter. I would second that. The
case was settled, allowing the continued use of the name, due to
de Camp’s praise for the establishment written on the back of a
photograph of him and the owners. I would second that praise. The
pizza was excellent.
That Howard traveled
throughout Texas and knew of its history is a fact.
Howard loved the drama of the land.
His views of civilization and his pessimism could be
verified in his view of Texas history and they were factors in his
Conan stories. The
Hyborian World was even bigger than Texas though.
Roman empires, African kingdoms, and Oriental dynasties all
existed in some manner in the Hyborian Age.
But along with the influence of ancient history were the
crime and squalor of an oil-boom, the senseless feuds, the clash
of cultures, and the pioneer spirit of Texas. Whether one specifically sees any of Texas in the Conan yarns
probably depends on your imagination.
REH had plenty of that.
This article could not
have been done without the key assistance of Rusty Burke. Also thanks needs to be given to Leo Grin, Patrice Louinet,
Fred Blosser, and Charles Gatlin.
Article and photos ©
by Gary Romeo
More information about
Texas history can be found at: www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/index.html
Gary
appreciates receiving feedback on all his articles. You can
send him email here.
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