July 12, 2025 and ninety-five years ago on this day in 1930, Edgar Rice Burroughs finished writing a western, “That Damn Dude,” which would be serialized in Thrilling Adventures as “The Terrible Tenderfoot” and published in book form as The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County,” complete with a cover by John Coleman Burroughs, a cover that a swear looks like John Wayne modeled for it. The novel was widely rejected when first submitted, being rejected by “Collier’s Weekly,” “Saturday Evening Post,” “Liberty,” “Ladies Home Journal”, “Blue Book,” “Argosy” (twice), “College Humor, Short Stories.” Five years later he unsuccessfully re-submitted the manuscript to “Liberty” under the title "The Brass Heart" using the pseudonym, John Mann.
Details about this novel and its publishing history: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0777.html
The 100-word drabble for today, “Once a Cowboy,” is excerpted from a letter written by Edgar Rice Burroughs to Collier’s Weekly dated June 30, 1930. It has been edited to fit the 100-word drabble format.
“I was about to write you relative to a story I am now writing. It’s a modern Western, located on a dude ranch in Arizona. For some time during my youth, I worked as a cow puncher; afterward I soldiered in the 7th United States Cavalry, and later still I ran a store in a cattle country in Idaho. My stories and my name are receiving unusually wide publication through the Tarzan illustrated strips running in 110 newspapers. nor ever since I started to write have my books enjoyed a greater sale, which seems to be increasing rather than diminishing.”
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