← Back to Gents on the Rampage
Exact textual stateDraft

Gents on the Rampage — Draft 3

Part of Gents on the Rampage

StateDraft 3Surviving witnesses1TSS catalogue units22
Textual identity is not textual authority. “Catalogue primary/default” selects the default catalogue representation; it does not mean that this wording is automatically Howard’s most authoritative text.

Characters in this exact text

Ann WilkinsAnn Wilkins — Bearfield’s intended bride in AntiochMentionedfirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 186Bearfield Buckner / Cousin BearfieldBearfield Buckner — Texas Buckner; Breckinridge’s cousinOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 181Breckinridge / IBreckinridge ElkinsOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 181Cap'n KiddCap’n Kidd — Breckinridge Elkins's horseOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 183Drooping Whiskers / Droopin’ WhiskersDrooping Whiskers — Draft 3 cabin owner; descriptive epithet, personal name not statedOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 190great-grand-uncle EsauEsau — Bearfield Buckner’s great-grand-uncle; surname not statedMentionedfirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 184Joe AllisonJoe Allison — person mentioned in Aunt Saragosa’s opening letterMentionedfirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 182Lem CampbellLem Campbell — conman in Draft 3; not automatically Lem Jackson of earlier draftsOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 184MeshakMeshak — Professor Lattimer’s assistant and banjo playerOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 185Old Man Brant Mulholland / Old Man MulhollandOld Man Brant Mulholland — cattle-drive boss who sends Breckinridge for suppliesOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 182Professor Horace J. LattimerProfessor Horace J. Lattimer — traveling patent-medicine salesmanOn Pagefirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 183Aunt Saragosa Grimes / Ant SaragosaSaragosa Grimes — Breckinridge’s aunt; writer of the opening letterMentionedfirst: First Cuts: Rough Trails 3, p. 181

Surviving manuscript evidence

The records below describe surviving physical typescripts, carbons, manuscript material and documentary catalogue evidence for this exact textual state. TSS numbers identify physical catalogue units; they are not story or draft IDs.

Draft 3 — surviving Howard carbon-copy typescriptOther physical witness
Extent22 pagesCompletenessComplete

Physical extent: Complete 22-page titled carbon copy

TSS: 51200–51211, 51213–51222

Complete Howard carbon-copy typescript, physically titled “Gents on the Rampage.”

Additional documentary notes

  • Authorial Title: Unlike the earlier drafts, Draft 3 is physically titled “Gents on the Rampage.” (manuscript page 1 / First Cuts p. 181)
  • Typed Annotation: The notation “63 words.” is typed in the upper-right corner of the first page. (manuscript page 1 / First Cuts p. 181)
  • Catalogue Boundary Note: First Cuts identifies TSS 51211 as the proper page 12 of Draft 3. TSS 51212 is not part of this draft text; it is an abandoned false start. (manuscript page 12)
  • Editorial Normalization: The physical text is smudgy but reads “the the”; the First Cuts editor replaces the first word with “in” in the transcription. This is editorial treatment, not authorial wording on the witness. (First Cuts p. 187)

Source: First Cuts: Breckinridge Elkins — Rough Trails 3, Gents on the Rampage, Editorial Notes p. 149; Draft 3 transcription pp. 181–199

Textual witnesses & editorial mediation

These records describe how this textual state is known or represented. A witness may be authorial, editorially mediated, restored, transcribed or otherwise derived without becoming a new Howard-authored textual state.

Howard carbon typescript · TSS 51200–51211, 51213–51222Howard carbon typescriptAuthority basis: Direct authorial witness · Treatment: No editorial alteration known

Rough Trails 3, Editorial Notes p. 149; TSS 51200–51211, 51213–51222

Published in

Breckinridge Elkins - First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments - Rough Trails 3REH Foundation PressMarch 2026↗First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments Breckinridge Elkins: Rough Trails Volumes 1-4 4 Volume Collector's Box SetREH Foundation PressMarch 2026↗