First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments
Breckinridge Elkins: Rough Trails Volume 2
REH Foundation Press
Year :
April 2026 (Trade paperback)
TBD 2026 (Hardcover)
Book No. : ISBN-13: 9781955446754 (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781955446761 (Trade paperback)
Edition : 1st
Format : Hardcover with dust jacket (6 x 9.25 inches)
Trade paperback (6 x 9.25 inches)
Pages : xviii plus 398
Cover : Lorence Ferdinand Björklund (From ACTION STORIES, February 1935)
Design by Ståle Gismervik
Illustrations : Original pulp illustrations
Leslie Ross, Rudolph Belarski and Uncredited (likely Hamilton Greene).

 Breckinridge Elkins: Rough Trails Volume 2
      
Other editions:
None
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Editor’s Note
"On Editing Robert E. Howard: A Note on Language, Style, and Fidelity"
"True Lies and Texas Accents" by Mark Finn
A Elkins Never Surrenders
Editorial Notes
"A Elkins Never Surrenders" (Draft 1, untitled, incomplete)
"A Elkins Never Surrenders" (Draft 2, untitled, complete)
"A Elkins Never Surrenders" (Draft 3, untitled, complete)
War on Bear Creek
Editorial Notes
"War on Bear Creek" (Draft 1, untitled, complete)
"War on Bear Creek" (Draft 2, untitled, complete)
The Feud Buster
Editorial Notes
"The Feud Buster" (Draft 1, untitled, complete)
"The Feud Buster" (Draft 2, untitled, complete)
"The Feud Buster" (Draft 3, untitled, complete)
The Peaceful Pilgrim
Rejection letter from Fiction House (John F. Byrne) to Viola Irene Cooper, March 1, 1935
"I didn't think that Breckenridge Elkins …"

Editorial Notes
"The Peaceful Pilgrim" (Draft 1, untitled, complete)
"The Peaceful Pilgrim" (Draft 2-cc, untitled, complete — carbon copy)
"The Peaceful Pilgrim" (Draft 2, untitled, incomplete)
Cupid from Bear Creek
Editorial Notes
"Cupid from Bear Creek" (untitled synopsis)
"Cupid from Bear Creek" (Draft 1, untitled, incomplete)
"Cupid from Bear Creek" (Draft 2, untitled, incomplete)
"Cupid from Bear Creek" (Draft 3, untitled, incomplete)
"Cupid from Bear Creek" (Draft 4, untitled, complete)
The Riot at Cougar Paw
Editorial Notes
"The Riot at Cougar Paw" (untitled synopsis)
"The Riot at Cougar Paw" (Draft 1, untitled, complete, short)
"The Riot at Cougar Paw" (Draft 2, untitled, complete)
The Apache Mountain War
Editorial Notes
"The Apache Mountain War" (untitled synopsis)
"The Apache Mountain War" (Draft 1, untitled, incomplete)
"The Apache Mountain War" (Draft 2, untitled, incomplete)
"The Apache Mountain War" (Draft 3, untitled, complete)
"The Apache Mountain War" (Draft 4, untitled, complete)
Pilgrims to the Pecos
Editorial Notes
"Pilgrims to the Pecos" (Draft 1, untitled, incomplete)
"Pilgrims to the Pecos" (Draft 2, untitled, incomplete)
"Pilgrims to the Pecos" (Draft 3, untitled, complete)
 
Notes
This series collects all of the drafts and synopses for REH's Breckinridge Elkins stories.
Series: Breckinridge Elkins: Rough Trails Book 2 of 4
Concept, transcriptions, layout and project development by Ståle Gismervik, Savage Studios.
All of the Howard stories and portions thereof contained in First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments – Breckinridge Elkins Rough Trails Volume 1 come from Howard’s original typescripts, manuscripts, and carbons. Virtually all of the typescripts were scanned from the Glenn Lord collection, now at the University of Texas, Austin; the Robert E. Howard collection at Texas A&M University; or the typescript collection at Cross Plains Library.