← Back to Works
WritingPermanent catalogue Work

The Feud Buster

4textual states10Characters
PublishedJune 1935
Genres
Funny WesternsWestern

Introduction

The Feud Buster is a Breckinridge Elkins story first published in Action Stories in June 1935. Howard later altered it slightly for use as chapter 6 of A Gent from Bear Creek. The story combines family-feud misunderstandings with the humor and action of the Elkins series.

Textual states

Shown in a practical developmental order where possible: synopsis/outline, numbered drafts, submission states, then published or posthumous states. This display order does not itself assert exact chronology or textual authority.

Draft 1The Feud Buster
Open exact text →
Draft 2The Feud Buster
Open exact text →
Draft 3The Feud Buster
Open exact text →
Published versionThe Feud Buster
Catalogue defaultOpen exact text →

Characters in this Work

Counts are across exact Textual Versions currently represented. Additional textual research may add further appearances.

Bill Hopkinsone of four Hopkins brothers; Elizerbeth’s brother and Breckinridge’s guide; not another Bill3 textual statesBreckinridge Elkins4 textual statesCap’n KiddBreckinridge Elkins's horse3 textual statesDick JacksonChawed Ear suitor of Ellen Elkins; Jake Barlow’s nephew; not another Howard Jackson by name alone3 textual statesElizerbeth Hopkinsdaughter of Old Man Hopkins and sister of Bill Hopkins; messenger during the feud3 textual statesEllen ElkinsBreckinridge's sister in Draft 2; not Ellen Reynolds #21 or Wampum Ellen #403 textual statesJake BarlowBarlow relative whose cabin is the feud rendezvous; uncle of Dick Jackson; not Navajo Barlow #613 textual statesJeppard GrimesBreckinridge's Uncle Jeppard; owner of the missing gold3 textual statesOld Man Hopkinsolder head of the Hopkins household/clan during the feud3 textual statesRoarin' Bill ElkinsBreckinridge's father1 textual state

Publication appearances

Action Stories June 1935Fiction House, IncJune 1935↗The "New" Howard Reader #5Joe & Mona MarekMarch 1999↗The Complete Action StoriesHermanthis PressNovember 2001↗The Complete Action StoriesWildside PressNovember 2003 (Hardcover) | January 2005 (Trade paperback)↗The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western TalesUniversity of Nebraska Press - Bison BooksApril 2005↗The Feud Buster, and The Haunted MountainDodo PressFebruary 2008↗The Bear Creek OmnibusDennis McHaney2009↗A Gent from Bear Creek and Other WesternsHalcyon Press, Ltd.January 2010↗The Robert E. Howard Omnibus: 99 Collected StoriesHalcyon Press, Ltd.May 2010↗Collected Western Stories of Robert E. HowardHalcyon Press, Ltd.October 2010↗The Breckenridge Elkins StoriesJame-BooksAugust 2012↗Breckinridge Elkins Rides AgainNuelow GamesSeptember 2012↗Robert E. Howard's Collected WorksJame-BooksFebruary 2013↗The Feud BustereStar BooksOctober 2014↗A Gent from Bear Creek (2015)Fiction House Press2015↗The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins Volume 1REH Foundation PressAugust 2016↗A Gent From Bear CreekFiction House PressMay 2019 (eBook) April 2023 (Hardcover) May 2023 (Trade paperback)↗The Robert E. Howard Collector Volume 2: Howard's Wild WestOld Tiger PressOctober 2023↗Il Ciclo di Breckinridge Elkins Volume 1Independently PublishedJune 2025↗The Adventures of Breckinridge Elkins Volume 1 UEREH Foundation PressJanuary 2026↗Breckinridge Elkins - First Cuts: The Drafts and Fragments - Rough Trails 2REH 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↗#4187