Introduction
This story is a collaboration with Chandler Whipple. Whipple’s pen-name is Robert Enders Allen. Whipple attempted to write the story, but got stuck and couldn’t figure out what to do for an ending. His agent suggested letting REH finish it. REH did, and they split the profits 50/50. Chapters 1-6 are by Chandler Whipple, the rest is by Howard.
‘Boot-Hill Payoff’ is one of Howard’s relatively few traditional Western stories. It’s packed with the action that the Western pulps demanded, but it also showcases a variation on the theme of the wandering hero. In this case, Buck Laramie, the only surviving member of a family of outlaw brothers, has been away from his home for a long time, but when he returns to the Texas cattle town of San Leon where he was raised, hoping to redeem himself and the memory of his brothers, he immediately finds almost every hand against him.
The story was revised for Robert Enders Allen (Chandler Whipple) and published in Western Aces. The story sold for $110.00 and Howard earned $78.75.
Alternate title:
Published in:
- WESTERN ACES VOLUME 3 NUMBER 4, Magazine Publishers, Inc., October 1935
- THE LAST RIDE, Berkley, June 1978 (as “The Last Ride”)
- TREASURES OF TARTARY, Wildside Press, 1st, July 2004
- TREASURES OF TARTARY, Wildside Press, 2nd, 2004
- THE END OF THE TRAIL: WESTERN STORIES, Bison Books, April 2005 (as “The Last Ride”)
- TREASURES OF TARTARY, Wildside Press, July 2006
- BOOT HILL PAYOFF, Benediction Classics, May 2010
- THE ROBERT E. HOWARD OMNIBUS: 99 COLLECTED STORIES, Halcyon Press, Ltd., May 2010
- WOLFSHEAD AND OTHER STORIES, Jame-Books, August 2012
- ROBERT E. HOWARD’S COLLECTED WORKS, Jame-Books, February 2013
- WESTERN TALES, REH Foundation Press, December 2013 (as “The Last Ride”)
- SFIDA AL CANYON INFERNALE, Fratini Editore, May 2014 (Italian)
- THE LAST RIDE, Nuelow Games, July 2015
- TALES OF THE WILD WEST, Ozymandias Press, June 2016
- TALES OF THE WILD WEST, Jovian Press, January 2017
