Earl Wayland Bowman, “the Ramblin’ Kid,” promoter of Idaho and author of popular stories and novels of the American West, was born in Missouri on March 13, 1875, to Francis Marion Bowman, a Baptist preacher, and Sidney Anne Priestly Bowman. Orphaned at the age of ten or eleven, he spent most of his youth wandering through Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Old Mexico, and Indian Territory, working at a variety of jobs—cattle punching, cooking, butchering, dishwashing, coal digging, and most significantly, in a print shop in New Mexico. There he learned enough of the trade to enable him to work as a traveling tramp printer. His early Western experiences, and the colorful characters he met along the way, provided fodder for the many stories he would write later in life.

At the age of 21, back in Missouri, Bowman married Elva Eldora Moss. For a while he ran a newspaper in Panama, Missouri, and later worked for other small-town Missouri newspapers. Always restless, though, he moved with his wife and first-born daughter to Idaho in 1901, first to Weiser and then to Council, where he established a ranch. He wrote for several newspapers in the Council valley, including the Advance and the Council Leader. In 1909 went into the real estate business. By his own account, he made approximately twenty thousand dollars in one summer, but lost it all in a slump.

In 1912, Bowman did feature writing for the Boise Capital News and in 1914 began publishing and editing a magazine called Homeseeker’s Illustrated Monthly, later called The Golden Trail. While the Homeseeker’s Illustrated Monthly focused on real estate and economic development, The Golden Trail expanded its scope to include fiction, poetry, and articles about Southern Idaho and its distinguished citizens written by Bowman and other contributors. He published The Golden Trail until 1920. It was in the pages of The Golden Trail that readers were introduced to Bowman’s folksy alter ego, “The Ramblin’ Kid.”

Politically, Bowman was a Socialist with a populist tilt. Editorials he wrote for the Council Advance express support of striking miners and child labor laws; in the inaugural issue of the Council Leader (1908) he contributed an essay entitled “The Class Struggle.” He also spoke out against the liquor traffic. Bowman has the distinction of being the first and only Socialist Party candidate elected to office in Idaho. He was elected to the State Senate from Adams County in 1914 and during his single term in the legislature authored several bills dealing with irrigation, conservation, and emergency employment. His employment bill passed the legislature handily, provoking one newspaper to declare “Socialist Bill Becomes A Law” (Treasure Scrapbook, p. 4). Presumably through politics Bowman became friends with Rose Pastor Stokes and her husband James Graham Phelps Stokes. He stayed with them during visits to New York and represented James Graham Phelps Stokes in some business dealings in Tacoma, Washington, in 1926.

During the Mexican border disturbances in 1916 Bowman went with the Second Idaho Infantry to Nogales, Arizona, as a correspondent for the Boise Capital News, sending numerous dispatches back to Idaho on the regiment’s activities. As World War I raged in Europe, Bowman voiced his philosophical objections to war in the pages of The Golden Trail, and after America’s entry into the conflict, criticized President Wilson roundly for what he considered the government’s suppression of the free speech. One of his editorials prompted the Boise postmaster to temporarily suspend mail delivery of the magazine. He railed against war and false patriotism, but by 1918 concluded that Germany must be defeated. He became publicity director for the statewide war bond campaign, traveling all over the state and writing extensively for the fundraising drives. After the war he divided his time between Boise, where he had established a small ranch, and New York City, near the popular magazine publishers, where he wrote Western stories and finished his novel, The Ramblin’ Kid. First published in serial form in All-Story Weekly, it was issued in book form by Bobbs-Merrill in 1920 and made into a motion picture starring Hoot Gibson in 1923. Despite his socialistic political leanings, Bowman was well acquainted and apparently well-liked by Idaho’s business establishment. He was made an honorary member of the Boise Ad Club at its founding in 1919, and in 1920 the Boise Chamber of Commerce feted him with a gala luncheon to celebrate the success of The Ramblin’ Kid.

Ill health forced Bowman to move to Arizona in 1921 and, soon thereafter, to Southern California, where he continued writing, finding frequent outlets for his Western stories in the national pulp magazines. According to one clipping in his scrapbook, he also wrote movie scenarios. He is credited with a small acting part in one film, When Seconds Count, starring Billy Sullivan. Bowman’s second novel, Solemn Johnson Plus, was published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1928, and a third book, Arrowrock, was published by Caxton Printers in Caldwell, Idaho, in 1931. Arrowrock includes many poems and stories that appeared previous in newspapers and magazines.

Earl Wayland Bowman died in California on September 5, 1952, survived by his wife, a son, and two of his three daughters. Although many of his stories were written in California, he always considered himself an Idaho author. In a 1923 letter to his friend Agnes Just Reid, he advised that the California state librarian had sent him a card requesting biographical data as a “California author.” He told the librarian that he was “an Idaho Author, if any kind,” adding a remark to his friend: “I’m all Idaho and want to stay that way.”

N.B. For a brief review of Wayland's political career, drawn mainly from the American Socialist and his correspondence in the Socialist Party collection at Duke University, see David R. Berman, Radicalism in the Mountain West, 1890-1920: Socialists, Populists, Miners and Wobblies (University Press of Colorado, 2007).

Scope and Content Note

The Earl Wayland Bowman collection contains Bowman’s Western stories and novels (in both typescript and published form), news articles and press releases, letters, clippings, several photos, and other biographical material documenting his work as a writer and his brief career in elective politics. The papers date from about 1904 to 1940 and occupy 3 linear feet of shelf space.

The largest part of the collection consists of Bowman’s writings. Included are clippings of newspaper articles and editorials, typescripts of short stories and novels, plus issues of many of the magazines in which his stories appeared, including Argosy All-Story Weekly and Munsey. Also present are the press releases he wrote promoting the sale of World War I war savings stamps. Copies of his magazines, The Golden Trail and Homeseeker’s Illustrated Monthly, have been cataloged separately for Special Collections.

By far the largest file of correspondence is with fellow author Agnes Just Reid of Shelley, Idaho. The collection contains approximately 80 letters Bowman wrote to Reid between 1917 and 1926. Their correspondence began when Reid submitted some of her work to The Golden Trail and Bowman responded warmly, with encouragement. Over the next few years he published several of her poems and some of the stories that were later included in her book, Letters of Long Ago (1923).

Bowman’s service in the Idaho legislature, his dispatches from the Mexican border, and his war bond work, in particular, are documented by clippings in two scrapbooks.

Earl Wayland Bowman’s daughter, Gladys Knight Bowman, donated the collection to Boise State University in 1972. She made annotations throughout the collection. Much of the paper in the collection is highly acidic and fragile. For that reason, researchers are asked to use photocopies; originals are retained in separate files and may be consulted if necessary.

                                                                                Collection number: MSS 4
                                                                                Inclusive dates: 1904-1953
                                                                                Collection size: 3 ft.

Series I: Biographical

Bowman’s colorful and wide-ranging career as an author and, briefly, as a politician, are documented in articles and clippings about him. The series includes both loose clippings and clippings assembled into two scrapbooks (Box 1, Folders 16-18). The “Treasure Scrapbook” is devoted principally to Bowman’s legislative service (1915) and his dispatches from the Mexican border (1916); the other scrapbook mainly to his World War I fundraising and his literary career. The 1920 interview in The Red Chevron (Box 1, Folder 10) is rich in early biographical detail, and, as a veterans magazine, recounts in particular his war work on the Liberty Loan and war savings stamp campaigns. Much of the material in this series is in photocopy form. Originals have been preserved elsewhere in the collection. Quite a few of the papers have been annotated by Bowman’s daughter Gladys Bowman Knight. More photos of Bowman are located in Series IX, Oversize.

Box 1: Biographical Materials

Folder 1    Memoirs of Earl Wayland Bowman, by Gladys Bowman Knight (1971); obituary (1952)
            2     Bibliography of writings, by Gladys Bowman Knight
            3     “The Ramblin’ Kid” (Incredible Idaho, Fall 1973)
            4     “Ash Park” home, Boise: Description by Gladys Bowman Knight, with photo
            5     Legislative career, 1915-1916
            6      Reelection campaign, 1916
            7     Memorial tribute by Idaho Legislature, 1953
            8     “Contemporary Writers and their Work” (The Editor, June1920)
            9     “Interesting People” (Sunset: The Pacific Magazine)
            10   “The Rambling Kid” (The Red Chevron, May 1, 1920)
            11   Boise Chamber of Commerce luncheon program, 1920
            12   Clippings: Golden Trail postal suspension, 1917
            13   Clippings: Miscellaneous compilation by Gladys Bowman Knight
            14   Clippings: Miscellaneous
            15   Clippings: Arrowrock publicity and reviews (1931)
            16    Treasure scrapbook, pp. 1-50 (Photocopies)
            17    Treasure scrapbook, pp. 51-102 (Photocopies)
            18    Scrapbook (Photocopies)
            19   Photographs, 1926 and 1931

Series II: Correspondence

Not much of Bowman’s correspondence has been preserved, save for approximately 80 typewritten letters he wrote between 1917 and 1926 to fellow writer Agnes Just Reid in Shelley, Idaho. He addressed her as “Range Cayuse”—from the title of her first book of poems—and signed his letters “Ramblin’ Kid.” Written from Boise, New York, Arizona, southern California, and Tacoma, Washington, Bowman’s letters include descriptions of his activities as publicity director for Idaho’s World War I bond campaign, life and work in Greenwich Village and his neighborhood just off Washington Square, work on The Ramblin’ Kid in New York and Idaho, interactions with publishers, later writing in California, and the making of his stories into movies. He occasionally mentions his New York friends, Rose Pastor Stokes and her husband James Graham Phelps Stokes, and Methodist minister and Golden Trail contributor J.D. Gillilan. And although there are no letters from Agnes Just Reid in the collection, Bowman often comments on her work and activities.

On his arrival in New York, Bowman wrote to Reid:

Here I am in the “heart of things” at last. Took seven brutal days to reach here from good old dear Idaho….I’m at J.G. Stokes’ home [88 Grove Street]—Rose Pastor Stokes—you know them no doubt. She is that East Side settlement worker. Their home is down in a quarter of the city called “Greenwich Village.” It is a Bohemian district. The artist, writer, actor rendezvous. All kinds of weird human animals are ramblin’ around the cafes and so forth in this particular neighborhood. It is where they pull of[f] all their high jinks—celebrations, little dinners, things like that when some of them sells a poem or a story or a play or picture or something— (January 17, 1918)

In that same letter he commented on the postal suspension of the July 1917 issue of The Golden Trail:

I can’t tell all about New York in one letter or so pronto anyhow so will just thank you honestly and truly for the kind things you said about the back numbers of the Golden Trail. The post master at Boise is inspired by purely personal political motives I feel sure in his pin-sticking campaign against it. The thing he objects to or professes to object to is the editorial entitled “Samuel, Remember the First Amendment.”

It is fundamentally and purely patriotic. It is Americanism absolute. Stopped in Washington to make formal protest and take the mater up personally with Senator Borah. Feel sure the Boise post office will be ordered to “be good.” Sen. Borah considers the action an outrage. I consider it a darned sight worse than that. As far as the Golden Trail is concerned and as far as it concerns me personally it doesn’t matter much but when any postmaster or any other individual in a position …of service to the American people assumes the right and power to suspend the Constitution for which our ancestors fought it gets kind of serious doesn’t it—

During a summer stay in New York two years later, Bowman was witness to one of professional baseball’s tragedies:

Have been taking an occasional afternoon off and going out to the ball games—Never told you I was a base ball fan. I have seen “Babe” Ruth knock out a number of home runs this season. So, Monday the Yanks and Cleveland were scheduled at the Polo Grounds and I went out. That was the day Carl Mays, pitcher for the Yanks (the New York team) hit Ray Chapman, or the Cleveland team with a pitched ball and killed him. It was sickening and took all the pleasure out of baseball for me. The ball struck Chapman in the temple and he dropped like a man who has been shot. I can still hear the “thud” of the ball against his head. (August 20, 1920)

Despite Bowman’s months-long stays in New York to write, he always claimed to prefer to be in Idaho:

Many a lonesome evening I’ve sat in Washington square and watched the yellow glow of the illuminated cross on the tower of the old church across the way, the moon-light...sprinklin’ the grass with white lace-work under th’ elm and sycamore trees, th’ human insects pantin’ for air or carressin’ some dad-gummed fuzzy poodle dog as th’ case might be—and wished, wished harder than thunder I was settin’ instead on the bank of the blamed little creek out at [Reid’s] Lone Pine Ranch…(October 13, 1919)

When not adopting a folksy, Western dialect, Bowman could write frankly and directly, and, as in his published works, was not loath to express his social prejudices against racial and ethnic minorities.

Tonight Mr. and Mrs. Stokes are talking me out to a little cafe around the corner to dinner where we will see local color in large chunks. Say, there are a lot of people here. Just like a big drove of long-horns trailing to water along Fifth Avenue and Broadway in particular and most all other streets in general. So few pure Americans among them. Every kind of people except Americans….(January 17, 1918).

Bowman did express sympathy for fellow writers. Not long after the Boise Chamber of Commerce luncheon feting him for the publication of The Ramblin’ Kid he wrote:

I thought of you and of the other Idaho writers—all producing as good stuff or better than my own and I wished it was not for me but for ALL of them—all the ‘heart sick, soul sick, tired and worn victims of blue (or pink or yellow or some colored) rejection slips.’ I felt like they needed encouragement a darned sight more than I do because I’ve gotten so it doesn’t matter much— (April 11, 1920)

Bowman got a taste of Hollywood when he moved to southern California. He attended a preview screening of The Ramblin’ Kid and gave the movie only mixed reviews.

The chase after the Golddust Maverik was good. The quicksand scene made ‘em hold their breaths. The race was intense enough. The fight was “as usual.” The fade-out just had to be the conventional clinch. If I was God I’d sure create some continuity writers and motion picture directors and put something besides self-esteem and marcelled, slick-combed hair above their eyebrows!...Some day some author is goin’ to kill a whole flock of motion picture makers if things keep on goin’ the way they’ve started! (August 5, 1923)

National news even figured into the events of that night:

The flash of President Harding’s death was thrown on the screen just at the close of the picture Thursday night and it silenced everything so there wasn’t any chance to listen to comments from the audience. Everyone was so stunned by the death of the President.

Bowman closed that letter with a characteristic paean to Idaho and details of his current work:

Gee, I wish I was in Idaho today! But I reckon I ought to be thankful that I can still keep hammering and can grind out a little work every day. Have nine short stories out now for release yet this year. Five to Munsey’s publications; two to Ace-High; one to Weird Tales; one to Times Magazine. So I’ve been writing some anyhow, haven’t I? Please say yes and encourage me! Same old, R.K.

Box 1: Correspondence

Folder 20   Legislative matters, 1915
            21    Literary matters, 1915-1924
            22    Davis, D.W. (Governor of Idaho), 1919-1920
            23   Knight, Gladys Bowman, 1919, 1946
            24   Reid, Agnes Just, 1917-1918
            25   Reid, Agnes Just, 1919-1920
            26   Reid, Agnes Just, 1921-1922
            27   Reid, Agnes Just, 1923-1926
            28   Truman, Harry S. (President of the United States), 1950
            29   The Westerner (Letter to the editor)

Series III: Writings for Newspapers

These files contain examples of Bowman’s writings for newspapers. Most of the editorials in Folder 30 are unsigned and unidentified, but Gladys Bowman Knight attributes them to her father and says they came from the Advance, in Council Idaho. This series contains several of Bowman’s dispatches from the Mexican border in 1916; many other articles can be found in his Treasure Scrapbook (Box 1, Folders 16 and 17).

Box 1: Writings for Newspapers

Folder 30   Editorials for the Council Advance and Council Leader, ca. 1904-1908
           31   Regional descriptions (Oregon and Idaho), 1911-1912
           32    Mexican border dispatches, 1916
           33    War savings stamp campaign: Press releases (numbered) (World War I)
           34    War savings stamp campaign: Sales appeals (World War I)
           35    War savings stamp campaign: Miscellaneous (World War I)

Series IV: Solemn Johnson and Dirty Shirt Smith stories

This series contains Bowman’s stories featuring the characters Solemn Johnson and Dirty Shirt Smith, two old Western prospectors, in both typescript and published form. Titles represented by typescripts are so indicated; published articles are indicated by the name of the magazine and the date of publication. Because of the fragility of the original papers, these are photocopies; originals are preserved elsewhere in the collection.

Box 2: Solemn Johnson and Dirty Shirt Smith stories

Folder 1     Diversion in the Seventh Oasis (typescript)
            2          Diversion in the Seventh Oasis (Munsey, January 1927)
            3          Edith in the Seventh Oasis (typescript)
            4          Edith in the Seventh Oasis (Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 3, 1924)
            5          The Elusive Mule (typescript)
            6          The Elusive Mule (Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 17, 1924)
            7          The Gamble-Horse of Dead Angel Mountain (typescript)
            8          The Gamble-Horse of Dead Angel Mountain (Munsey, November 1926)
            9          The Gamble-Horse (Crack-Shot Western, October-November 1939)
            10      Immunized in Advance (typescript)
            11      Immunized in Advance (Ace-High Magazine, October-November 1923)
            12      The Ingratitude of Hector (typescript)
            13      The Ingratitude of Hector (The Blue Book Magazine, June 1926)
            14      The Finish of Isabel’s Education (typescript)
            15      Isabel’s Education (Munsey, January 1928)
            16      Joshua of Three Legs (typescript)
            17      Joshua of Three Legs (Argosy Allstory Weekly, October 11, 1924)
            18      Jug-Handle Jim of Soda-Mint Canon (Munsey, October 1927)
            19      Romance Rocks Red Bluff (typescript)
            20      Romance Rocks Red Bluff (Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 24, 1924)
            21      The Self-Assassination of Angel (typescript)
            22      The Self-Assassination of Angel (Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 1924)
            23      This Week in Dead Angel Gulch (typescript)
            24      The Undoing of Horace Duranto (typescript)
            25      The Undoing of Horace Duanto (Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 10, 1924)
            26      Versus vs. Beans (typescript)
            27      Versus vs. Beans (Ace-High Magazine, November 1923)

Series V: Other Stories

Like the Solemn Johnson Plus and Dirty Shirt Smith stories, both typescripts and photocopies of published versions of these stories are present in this series.

Box 3: Other Stories

Folder 1    As Told by the Ramblin’ Kid (Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 1, 1927)
            2        The Blue One (typescript)
            3        The Blue One (Popular Magazine, February 20, 1921)
            4        Blunt Nose (typescript)
            5        Blunt Nose (The American Magazine, February, 1920)
            6        Carrita of Santa Rosa (typescript)
            7        Carrita of Santa Rosa (Ranch Romances, April 1940)
            8        Der Pretzel of Destiny (typescript)
            9        The Diamond Kid (typescript)
            10    El Capitan Satan (typescript)
            11    Ever Since Adam (People’s Story Magazine, May 25, 1922)
            12    High Stakes (The American Magazine, September 1920)
            13    I’m From Arizona (typescript)
            14    I’m From Arizona ( Munsey, June 1927)
            15    Kidding the Kindergarten: Disappearing Garter Snake (typescript)
            16    Kidding the Kindergarten: Magic Coconut (typescript)
            17    Leave It To Sid [part 1] (The Westerner, April 1939)
            18    Leave it To Sid [part 2] (The Westerner, May 1939)
            19    Longhorn Psychology (typescript)
            20    Longhorn Psychology (newspaper article)
            21    The Powerful Eye (typescript)
            22    The Powerful Eye (Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 19, 1921)
            23    The Primer of Preparedness (typecript)
            24    Propinquity (typescript)
            25    Providence Plus (typescript)
            26    Providence Plus (Munsey, February 1927)
            27    Rain on the Marigolds (Home, November 1934)
            28    Th’ Ramblin’ Kid Rides Again (typescript)
            29    A Road to Yesterday (typescript)
            30    S. Rawlins, Sheriff Pro-Tem (typescript)
            31    Scat! (typescript)
            32    Senorita Serpente (typescript)
            33    Senorita Serpente (Weird Tales, August 1923)
            34    Shag (Argosy All-Story Weekly, August, 28, 1920)
            35    So Brave the Coward (Liberty, May 11, 1935) [with Kay Fougera]
            36    Something Happened (typescript)
            37    Thirteen Days (Argosy All-Story Weekly, October 24, 1925)
            38    Unexpected Bull Elk (typescript)
            39    Vibrations (typescript)
            40    When the Fittest Fight (newspaper article)
            41    Whose Horrorscope? / Whose Horoscope (typescripts)
            42    The Worm Turns (typescript)
            43    Untitled (involves the Magic Coconut) (typescript)

Series VI: Poetry and Meditations

Bowman mentions his "Papa Goose" rhymes (folder 51) occasionally in his letters to Agnes Just Reid. They evidently were published in a number of newspapers across the counrty.

Box 3: Poetry and Meditations

Folder 44  Philosophical meditations
            45 The Cow-Puncher’s Farewell (Munsey, August, 1927)
            46 The End of the Trail ( Munsey, September 1927)
            47    God Keep My Soldier Laddie (typescript)
            48    Mrs. Jones’ Hat (typescript)
            49    The Outlaw’s Odds (Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 16, 1925)
            50    A Ridin’ All Alone (Argosy All-Story Weekly, January 22, 1927)
            51    Ramblin’ Kid’s Papa Goose Rhymes (typescripts)
            52    Ruthless Rhymes (typescripts)
            53    Miscellaneous typescript poems
            54    Miscellaneous published poems

Series VII: American Folkstuff

In 1938 and 1939, Earl Wayland Bowman compiled life histories and stories for the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers’ Project (U.S. Work Projects Administration). These are typescripts of two sets of stories; one set narrated by Harry Reece, the other by William D. Naylor. Bowman headed the stories “American Folkstuff.” Bowman apparently was in New York at the time, for his informants were New Yorkers and he records his address as 86 West 12^th St., New York. The Library of Congress has published versions of most of these stories, along with biographical information about Reece and Naylor not found in the collection, on their American Memory website, American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940. (Search for Bowman).

Reece’s stories were of "Uncle Steve Robertson’s" experiences in the Idaho outback. Documents at the Library of Congress filed by Bowman along with the interviews identify Reece as a native of Illinois, about 55 years of age, who spent time in the West around cowboys and was at the time of Bowman’s interviews the operator of a bookstore at 63 Washington Square South. Bowman says he had known him for about ten years. He identifies William D. Naylor as a New York native who traveled with Doc Porter’s Kickapoo Indian Medicine Show on the carnival circuit in the 1890s. Naylor’s stories are of his experiences with the show.

The Library of Congress website also reproduces several interviews by Bowman with other persons not represented in the collection at Boise State.

Box 4: American Folkstuff

Uncle Steve Robertson stories, narrated by Harry Reece

Folder 1   Bob White’s Self-Skinnin’ Skunks
            2        Bob White’s Trained Dog, Salmon
            3        Hell, Bob an’ Me Planted ‘em
            4        How ‘Salton Sea’ was Caught
            5        How Snipe Hunting was Invented
            6        Meteor Hell, Cicero Done It
            7        The Mysterious Hole
            8        Old Haystack was a Grizzly
            9        Them Petrified Buzzards
            10    Them ‘toxicated Wild Geese
            11    Them Winds was Just Breezes

William D. Naylor stories

Folder 12 The End of the Feud (pp. 6-9)
            13    Chief Joe-Bull’s Joke (pp. 10-13)
            14    The Dancing Turkeys (pp. 14-18)
            15    The Arkansas Shakes (pp. 19-22)
            16    Uncle Zeb’s Inside Frog (pp. 20-24 sic)

Series VIII: Novels

Earl Wayland Bowman wrote at least four novels, two of which were published: The Ramblin’ Kid (Bobbs-Merrill, 1920) and Solemn Johnson Plus (Grossett and Dunlap, 1928). Both are represented here in typescript. In addition, this series contains copies of the serialized version of The Ramblin’Kid as well as reviews and publicity. Copies of Bowman’s two published novels as well as Arrowrock, the collection of his verse and stories published by Caxton Printers in 1931, have been cataloged separately for the book collection of the Special Collections Department. Additional materials relating to The Ramblin’ Kid can be found in Series IX, Oversize items.

Two unpublished novels are found in Box 5. They are quite unlike Bowman’s usual work. He described “Issmir Will Sing Again” as an “American romance novel.” It is the story of a young child stolen by Gypsies from her Southern home. “Autobiography of a Worm” is a whimsical vehicle Bowman used to explore philosophical and religious themes and notions of civilization. Neither typescript is dated, though Bowman gave his address on the title pages of both as Los Angeles.

Box 4: Novels

Folder 17    Ramblin’ Kid (typescript, pp. 1-168)
            18    Ramblin’ Kid (typescript, pp. 169-269)
            19    Th’ Ramblin’ Kid (All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1920)
            20        Th’ Ramblin’ Kid (All-Story Weekly, February 14, 1920)
            21     Th’ Ramblin’ Kid (All-Story Weekly, February 21, 1920)
            22        Th’ Ramblin’ Kid (All-Story Weekly, February 28, 1920)
            23        Th’ Ramblin’ Kid (All-Story Weekly, March 6, 1920)
            24        Th’ Ramblin’ Kid, Letters to the Editor (All-Story Weekly, May 22, 1920)
            25        The Ramblin’ Kid: Publicity
            26        The Ramblin’ Kid: Reviews
            27        Solemn Johnson Plus (typescript, pp. 1-133)
            28        Solemn Johnson Plus (typescript, pp. 134-264)

Box 5: Novels

Autobiography of a Worm: Translated from the Original Wormese (bound typescript)

Issmir Will Sing Again (bound typescript)

Box 6: Books

Solemn Johnson Plus (autographed and inscribed)

Arrowrock (autographed and inscribed)

Series IX: Oversize Items

Box 7: Oversize Items

Ramblin’ Kid advertising neckerchief
Ramblin’ Kid publicity broadside (flimsy paper)

Senatorial campaign broadside, 1916

The Red Chevron (May 1920) containing interview with EWB
Weird Tales (August 1923) containing “Senorita Serpente”

                  Bowman Novel Made Into Real Thriller (Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1923)
                  El Capitan Satan (The Times Illustrated Magazine, September 17, 1922)
                  He Called Me “Sheepherder” (Illustrated Magazine, February 4, 1932)
                  S. Rawlins, Sheriff Pro-Tem (Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1922)
                  The Ramblin’ Kid, (Sunday News-Leader Magazine, July 11, 1920)
                  ‘Tis A Bitter Word (The War Cry, February 3, 1940)
                  Vibrations (Illustrated Magazine, February 12, 1922)

Box 8: Framed photos and illustrations

Earl Wayland Bowman photographic portrait, with pipe

Earl Wayland Bowman photorgraphic portrait, equestrian

The Ramblin’ Kid illustration

Series X: Periodicals

This series contains the original magazines in which many of Earl Wayland Bowman’s stories and poems were published. Most of the issues are here in full; but many are represented only by their covers and the pages with Earl Wayland Bowman’s stories, which Gladys Bowman Knight extracted from the magazine. Photocopies of these stories can be found in Series IV and V.

Box 10: Argosy All-Story Weekly

1920 Aug 28 Shag, 724-730

1921 Feb 19 The Powerful Eye, 133-138 (cover and story only)

1924 Apr 26 The Self-Assassination of Angel, 751-759

1924 May 3 Edith in the Seventh Oasis, 878-885 (cover and story only)

1924 May 10 The Undoing of Horace Duranto, 118-126

1924 May 17 The Elusive Mule, 252-260

1924 May 24 Romance Rocks Red Bluff, 409-415

1924 Oct 11 Joshua of the Three Legs, 777-784 (story only)

1925 May 16 The Outlaw’s Odds (poem), 881 (cover and poem only)

1925 Oct 24 Thirteen Days, 794-800 (cover and story only)

1927 Jan 22 A Ridin’ All Alone (poem), 638 (cover and poem only)

1927 Oct 1 As Told by the Ramblin’ Kid, 635-638 (cover and story only)

Box 11: Munsey

1926 Nov The Gamble Horse of Dead Angel Mountain, 271-293

1927 Jan Diversion in the Seventh Oasis, 681-689 (cover and story only)

1927 Feb Providence Plus, 133-140

1927 Jun I’m from Arizona, 142-148

1927 Aug The Cow-Puncher’s Farewell (poem), 456 (cover and poem only)

1927 Sep The End of the Trail (poem), 691 (cover and poem only)

1927 Oct Jug Handle Jim of Soda Mint Canon, 158-192

1928 Jan Isabel’s Education, 751-768; and My Friendly Hills (poem), 750 (cover and writings only)

Box 12: Miscellaneous periodicals

The American Magazine

1920 Feb Blunt Nose, 62-63, 121-124

1920 Sep High Stakes, 56-59, 194-202

Home

1934 Nov Rain on the Marigolds, 10, 51

Liberty

1935 May 11 So Brave the Coward, 45-49

Tavern Topics

1920 Aug Review of The Ramblin’ Kid, 28

The Westerner

1930 Apr Leave it to Sid (part 1), 8-9, 56

1930 May Leave it to Sid (part 2), 18-19, 52-56

1930 Jun Leave it to Sid (part 3), 16-17, 28-33; letter to editor, 30

Box 13: Miscellaneous periodicals

Ace-High Magazine

1923 Oct 3 Immunized in Advance, 279-283

1923 Nov 3 Versus vs. Beans, 105-111 (cover and story only)

The Blue Book Magazine

1926 Jun The Ingratitude of Hector, 34-41 (cover and story only)

Crack-Shot Western

1939 Oct-Nov The Gamble-Horse, 88-111

The Popular Magazine

1921 Feb 20 The Blue One, 186-190 (story only)

People’s Story Magazine

1922 May 25 Ever Since Adam, 88-97 (cover and story only)

Ranch Romances

1940 Mar Carrita of Santa Rosa, 98-109

Photocopied Originals

These original documents, on fragile paper, are represented by photocopies in Series I through X of the collection. Researchers should consult the photocopies first, and refer to these originals only if the photocopies do not meet their research needs.

Box 14: Original typescripts

The Blue One
Blunt Nose
Carrita of Santa Rosa
Der Pretzel of Destiny
Diversion in the Seventh Oasis
"Edith” in the Seventh Oasis
El Capitan Satan
The Elusive Mule [Solemn Johnson Almost Wins a Prize]
The Finish of Isabel’s Education [Isabel’s Education]
The Gamble-Horse of Dead Angel Mountain
I’m from Arizona
Immunized in Advance
The Ingratitude of Hector
Joshua of Three Legs
Longhorn Psychology
The Powerful Eyes
Propinquity
Providence Plus
Romance Rocks Red Bluff
S. Rawlins, Sheriff Pro Tem
Senorita Serpente
The Undoing of Horace Duranto

Box 15: Original scrapbooks

Treasure scrapbook (copies in Box 1, Folders 16-17)
Scrapbook of clippings (copies in Box 1, Folder18)

Box 16: Original documents

1. Correspondence: Agnes Just Reid
2. Correspondence: Agnes Just Reid
3. Correspondence: Others
4. The Diamond Kid
5. Kidding the Kindergarten
6. Mrs. Jones’ Hat
7. The Primer of Preparedness
8. Th’ Ramblin’ Kid Rides Again
9. Scat!
10. Something Happened
11. This Week in Dead Angel Gulch
12. Unexpected Bull Elk
13. Whose Horoscope / Whose Horrorscope
14. The Worm Turns
15. Untitled typescript (about Magic Coconut)
16-18. The Ramblin’ Kid typescript (3 folders)
19. The Ramblin’ Kid: Publicity
20-21. Solemn Johnson Plus typescript (2 folders)

Box 17: Original documents

1. Poetry: Papa Goose rhymes
2. Poetry: Papa Goose rhymes
3. Poetry; Philosophical meditations
4. Biographical: Legislative career
5. Biographical: “Contemporary Writers….” (The Editor)
6. Biographical: “Interesting People” (Sunset)
7. Biographical: Golden Trail postal suspension
8. Biographical: Clippings, Miscellaneous
9. Biographical: Arrowrock publicity
10. War stamp campaign: Press releases
11. War stamp campaign: Sales appeals
12. Writings: Mexican border dispatches
13. Writings: Regional descriptions
14. Biographical: Clippings: Miscellaneous compilation by Gladys Bowman Knight

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