Pilgrims to the Pecos

Introduction

Pilgrims to the Pecos is one of Robert E. Howard’s humorous Westerns featuring the towering, temperamental mountain man Breckinridge Elkins. Sold to Action Stories on October 8, 1935, for $60, it was originally titled Weary Pilgrims on the Road. Set in the untamed American West, the story blends action, slapstick, and culture clash as Breckinridge is reluctantly tasked with guiding a hapless group of Kansas immigrants through dangerous territory—where Apaches, Mexican bandits, and rival settlers make life anything but peaceful.

Summary:

When a wagon train of weary Kansas immigrants led by the crafty and verbose Joshua Richardson arrives at Bear Creek, Breckinridge Elkins is “volunteered” by his pap to guide them to a more suitable settlement in Bowie Knife Canyon, Arizona. Reluctantly, Breckinridge takes on the task, despite his suspicion that the settlers are unfit for frontier life. Along the way, they encounter trouble in the outlaw-infested town of War Smoke and learn that a bandit leader named Señor Gonzales Zamora already claims the canyon.

Complications multiply when a second wagon train led by none other than Breckinridge’s equally headstrong cousin Bearfield Buckner also stakes claim to the valley. Before the cousins can settle the matter with guns, they learn that Zamora’s gang is preparing to attack both camps. After a full-scale brawl, a daring rope-climb assault, and some spectacular frontier justice, the outlaws are scattered or dead. Ironically, the two immigrant groups—originally terrified and useless in a fight—decide to settle the canyon together in peace, leaving the combative cousins disgusted with the triumph of pacifism.

Character:

  • Breckinridge Elkins: The story’s narrator and protagonist; a brawny, short-tempered frontiersman who is forced to guide a wagon train westward.
  • Joshua Richardson: Elderly leader of the Kansas immigrants; verbose, nervous, and full of excuses but essentially good-natured.
  • Betty Richardson: Richardson’s attractive unmarried daughter; kidnapped by bandits and later rescued by Breckinridge.
  • Jack Richardson: A Richardson boy who is shot in the head during the Mexican raid but survives, only creased.
  • Ned Richardson: One of the older Richardson sons; goes hunting, helps scout the area.
  • Joe Richardson: Another Richardson son; whipped and nearly killed by Zamora’s men after being captured while hunting.
  • Bearfield Buckner: Breckinridge’s equally combative cousin from Texas; guides a rival wagon train from Illinois into the same canyon.
  • George Warren: A member of Bearfield’s party; arrogant and overconfident, sent to warn Breckinridge’s camp to vacate.
  • Señor Gonzales Zamora: Mexican bandit chief who claims Bowie Knife Canyon for his horse-thieving operations; ultimately killed by Cap’n Kidd.
  • Gomez: Zamora’s lieutenant; confronts the Richardson boys in War Smoke and later kidnaps Betty; killed by Breckinridge.
  • Ouachita Elkins (“Ouachie”): Breckinridge’s mother; minor background role but part of the Elkins household dynamic.
  • Willyum “Roaring Bill” Elkins: Breckinridge’s father; imposes the guiding job on Breckinridge and reminisces about the Civil War.
  • Cap’n Kidd: Breckinridge’s famously mean and unstoppable horse; kicks Zamora to his death, making him an active participant in the action.

Alternate titles:

WEARY PILGRIMS ON THE ROAD. 

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