Finding Aid for the Allan Vaughan Elston Papers LSC.0786

Finding aid prepared by Brooke Whiting, 1962, reprocessed by Nami Hatfield with assistance from Kelly Besser, 2015; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2015.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu


Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Allan Vaughan Elston papers
Creator: Elston, Allan Vaughan
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0786
Physical Description: 7.0 Linear Feet (14 document boxes)
Date (inclusive): ca. 1916-1961
Abstract: Allan Vaughan Elston (1887-1976) was a free-lance writer of western fiction and mystery stories. His publications include Come Out and Fight! (1941), Long Lope to Lander (1954) and Saddle Up for Steamboat (1973). The collection consists of research notebooks, typescripts, novels, magazines containing short stories, and stories clipped from magazines, all by Elston.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: The bulk of the materials are in English. Additionally, there is a copy of Grass and Gold and The Sheriff of San Miguel in Dutch and a copy of Saddle Up for Sunlight in German. There are also two volumes of The All Story Braille Magazine.

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Allan Vaughan Elston, May 1961.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Allan Vaughan Elston Papers (Collection 786). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Processing Information

Processed by Brooke Whiting, November 1962. Reprocessed by Nami Hatfield with assistance from Kelly Besser, 2015.
Initial description in 1962 derived from in-house card file.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections. 

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9942329793606533 

Biography

Allan Vaughan Elston was born on July 28, 1887 in Kansas City, Missouri. Elston studied engineering at the University of Missouri where he earned a civil engineering Bachelor of Science degree in 1909. After college he worked as a transitman for railroads in the West and Midwest, a resident engineer, a cattle rancher and a consulting engineer. He began work as a free-lance writer of western fiction and mystery stories in 1924. He became well known for his western novels and was a member of the Western Writers of America. Elston's publications include Come Out and Fight! (1941), Roundup on the Picketwire (1952), Long Lope to Lander (1954), Showdown (1956), and Saddle Up for Steamboat (1973). He passed away on October 21, 1976 in Santa Ana, California.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of research notebooks, typescripts, novels, magazines containing short stories, and stories clipped from magazines, all by Elston.

Organization and Arrangement

This collection has been arranged in the following series:
  • Series 1: Research Notebooks
  • Series 2: Typescripts of Novels
  • Series 3: Typescripts of Short Stories
  • Series 4: Publications

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Manuscripts for publication
Western stories.
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Elston, Allan Vaughan, 1887-1976--Archives.

 

Research Notebooks

Scope and Content

This series contains research notebooks created by Allan Vaughan Elston at various county seat towns in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Idaho. Elston primarily copied these notes from the files of the weekly newspapers published in these towns between 1875-1889. These notes assisted Elston with the creation of the backgrounds and to a lesser extent, the plots of his western novels. This series also includes a cover mock-up for the novel Forbidden Valley.
box 1, folder 1

Last Stage to Aspen research notes

box 1, folder 2

Wyoming Manhunt research notes

box 1, folder 3

Rawlins, WYO research notes

box 1, folder 4

Buffalo #1 research notes

box 1, folder 5

Buffalo #2 research notes

box 1, folder 6-7

Rio Grande Deadline research notes

box 1, folder 8-9

The Landseekers research notes

box 1, folder 10-12

The Wyoming Bubble research notes

box 1, folder 13-15

Forbidden Valley research notes

box 1, folder 16-18

Roundup on the Yellowstone research notes

box 1, folder 19

Grand Mesa research notes

box 1, folder 20

Gun Law at Laramie research notes

box 1, folder 21-23

Montana Masquerade research notes

box 1, folder 24-25

Treasure Coach from Deadwood research notes

box 1, folder 26

Sagebrush Serenade research notes

box 1, folder 27

Grass and Gold research notes

box 1, folder 28

Saddle Up for Sunlight research notes

box 1, folder 29-30

Wagon Wheel Gap research notes

box 1, folder 31

Timberland Bonanza research notes

box 1, folder 32-33

Long Lope to Lander research notes

box 1, folder 34

Forbidden Valley cover mock-up

 

Typescripts of Novels

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Content

This series contains typescripts of novels for publishing as hardcover and paperback editions. In each case, Lippincott used the original copy for printing purposes and then sent it to the Historical Division of the University of Wyoming Library archives.
box 2, folder 1

Last Stage to Aspen typescript

box 2, folder 2

"Railroad Yarn" continuity typescript 1936 October 31

box 2, folder 3-4

The Incredible Stokes typescript

box 3, folder 1

Rio Grande Deadline typescript

box 3, folder 2

The Wyoming Bubble typescript

box 3, folder 3

The River of No Return typescript

box 3, folder 4

Wyoming Manhunt typescript

box 3, folder 5

Long Lope to Lander typescript

box 3, folder 6

Gun Law at Laramie typescript

box 4, folder 1

Santa Fe typescript

box 4, folder 2

Hit the Saddle typescript

box 4, folder 3

Forbidden Valley typescript

box 4, folder 4

Montana Masquerade typescript

box 4, folder 5

The Sheriff of San Miguel typescript

box 5, folder 1

Grand Mesa typescript

box 5, folder 2

Roundup on the Yellowstone typescript

box 5, folder 3

Wagon Wheel Gap typescript

box 5, folder 4

Treasure Coach from Deadwood typescript

box 5, folder 5

Timberline Bonanza typescript

box 5, folder 6

Sagebrush Serenade typescript

box 6, folder 1

Durango typescript

box 6, folder 2

Roundup on the Picketwire typescript

box 6, folder 3

Come Out and Fight! typescript

box 6, folder 4

The Face in the Fire typescript

box 6, folder 5

The Prophet of Death typescript

box 6, folder 6

Passage Home typescript

box 6, folder 7

Jury of One typescript

box 6, folder 8

Death Due North typescript

 

Typescripts of Short Stories

Language of Material: English.

Scope and Content

This series contains short story typescripts, some of which are annotated by Elston.
box 7, box 8, box 9

Short story typescripts

 

Publications

Scope and Content

This series contains novels, magazines, anthologies, and clippings.
box 10-11, 14

Novels

Scope and Content

Box 10: Gun Law at Laramie, The Marked Men, Long Lope to Lander, Wyoming Manhunt, Timberline Bonanza, Murder by Mandate, Come Out and Fight! book jacket, Saddle Up for Sunlight, Grass and Gold, The Wyoming Bubble, Montana Masquerade, Last Stage to Aspen, Sagebrush Serenade, De Sheriff van San Miguel ( The Sheriff of San Miguel), and Earn As You Learn Writing which includes Elston's Candlemas.
Box 11: Stage Road to Denver, Deadline at Durango, Saddle Up for Sunlight, Grand Mesa, The Wyoming Bubble, Rio Grande Deadline, Last Stage to Aspen, Wagon Wheel Gap, Roundup on the Picketwire, Forbidden Valley, Gold Brick Range, The Sheriff of San Miguel, Beyond the Bitterroots, Hit the Saddle, Wyoming Manhunt, Montana Masquerade, Colorado Showdown, The Marked Men, Showdown, Long Lope to Lander, Stage Road to Denver, and Come Out and Fight!
Box 14: Gras en Goud( Grass and Gold) and Verschlungene Fahrten ( Saddle Up for Sunlight).
box 12, box 13, box 14

Magazines

Physical Description: Box 13 contains magazines with spine damage that are extremely brittle.

Scope and Content

This series contains magazines which published Elston's short stories and novelettes.
Box 12: This box includes two volumes of The All Story Braille Magazine, which published Elston's Candlemas and Retreat.
Box 14: This box includes one folder of clippings concerning Elston's work.
box 14

Anthologies

Scope and Content

This subseries contains anthologies signed by Elston which include his mystery short stories by the following titles: The Mystery of Monsieur Pliny, Drawing Room B, and Blackmail.