A Gent From Bear Creek
A Gent from Bear Creek is a collection of short stories by Robert E. Howard, featuring the character Breckinridge Elkins. Elkins is a large, strong, and often naive cowboy from the fictional town of Bear Creek, located in the wilds of the American West. The stories follow Elkins as he encounters various characters and situations, often involving violence and humor. He is often accompanied by his cousin, the diminutive and wily Uncle Jeppard. Elkins is a formidable fighter, but his lack of sophistication often leads him into trouble. The stories in the collection include "A Gent from Bear Creek," "The Riot at Cougar Paw," "The Road to Bear Creek," "The Feud Buster," "The Apache Mountain War," "The Haunted Mountain," "The Riot at Bucksnort," "The Trail of the Apache," "The Apache Kid," "The Outlaws of Coyote Springs," "The Terror of Coyote Pass," "The Valley of the Lost," "The Apache Devil," "The Return of the Apache Kid," and "The Apache Warrior."
By Robert E. Howard · First published 1928 · Genre: Western, Adventure, Fantasy · 7,560 words
First lines
The folks on Bear Creek ain't what you'd call peaceable by nature, but I was kind of surprised to come onto Erath Elkins and his brother- in-law Joel Gordon locked in mortal combat on the bank of the creek. But there they was, so tangled up they couldn't use their bowies to no advantage, and their cussing was scandalous to hear.
Remonstrances being useless, I kicked their knives out of their hands and throwed 'em bodily into the creek. That broke their holds and they come swarming out with blood-thirsty shrieks and dripping whiskers, and attacked me. Seeing they was too blind mad to have any sense, I bashed their heads together till they was too dizzy to do anything but holler.
What this Textopian page supports
A Gent From Bear Creek is listed on Textopian as a novel by Robert E. Howard, dated 1928 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novel
- Author: Robert E. Howard
- Date: 1928 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Western, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
- Length: 7,560 words
- Structure: 1 section, 239 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for A Gent From Bear Creek by Robert E. Howard
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Discussion starters
- What should a reader notice first when entering A Gent From Bear Creek?
- How does this novel by Robert E. Howard fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
- Where does Western first become important in the reading?
Similar titles
- The Hair Trigger Kid by Max Brand
- Cupid From Bear Creek by Robert E. Howard
- The Nine Unknown by Talbot Mundy
- Dwellers In The Mirage by Abraham Merritt
- A Story Of The Stone Age by H. G. Wells
- The King Of The Golden River by John Ruskin
Genres
- Western — The title of the book, 'A Gent From Bear Creek', implies a Western setting, and the author, Robert E. Howard, is known for writing stories in the Western genre.
- Adventure — The book is likely to contain elements of adventure, as the protagonist is likely to be on a journey of some kind.
- Fantasy — Robert E. Howard is known for writing stories with elements of fantasy, and this book may contain some of those elements.
- Romance — The book may contain elements of romance, as the protagonist may encounter a love interest during his journey.
Tags
'em · Short Story · Westernshort Stories · ashley · bear · begun · cap'n · creek · demanded · erath · fell · feller