BACK with the second of Frederick Blakeslee’s “The Roaring Town” featurettes. Blakeslee only produced three installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the boom towns of the Wild West in Pecos Kid Western. Authored by Jhan Robbins, the prolific western story author and editor of pulp magazines, and deftly illustrated by Blakeslee, the feature delves into the story behind noted boom towns of the old west. This time Robbins and Blakeslee tell us the tale of Soya, Texas—a town now lost to the sands of time.

From the September 1950 issue of Pecos Kid Western it’s “The Roaring Towns: Soya, Texas!”

THE ROARING TOWNS: Soya, Texas
by Frederick Blakeslee and Jhan Robbins (Pecos Kid Western, September 1950)

IT’S no secret that we’re big fans of the work of Frederick Blakeslee here at Age of Aces Books. He did the covers for all of Popular Publications’ big Air titles—Dare-Devil Aces, Battle Aces, Battle Birds, Fighting Aces, Dusty Ayres and his Battle Aces, and, of course, G-8 and his Battle Aces. In addition he did the interior art for Dare-Devil Aces, Battle Birds and Fighting Aces. Blakeslee also provided art for other titles as well—including a few special illustrative features. One of those features was “The Roaring Towns” for Pecos Kid Western magazine.

Similar to his “Adventures Into The Unknown” feature that ran in several mystery magazines, “The Roaring Towns” was a two page feature focusing on a different Wild West frontier town each time. Blakeslee teamed with writer Jhan Robbins for the “The Roaring Towns.” Robbins was a Brooklyn-born writer who became an editor for pulp magazines like Big Book Western and Dime Mystery after WWII. With his wife June Stumpe he became a widely known for writing articles—one being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize—and later biographies.

Pecos Kid Western only ran for five issues, and, sadly, “The Roaring Towns” for only the first three of those. The first installment centers on boomtown of Jackson, Nevada which sprung up in 1871 with the discovery of silver. Over the next year, forty thousand prospectors mined more than five million dollars of silver out of dem thar hills.

THE ROARING TOWNS: Jackson, Nevada
by Frederick Blakeslee and Jhan Robbins (Pecos Kid Western, July 1950)

BACK with another of Frederick Blakeslee’s “Adventures Into The Unknown!” Blakeslee published fourteen installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the Unknown between March 1948 and October 1950.

In the final installment of his explorations into the Unkown, Mr. Blakeslee relates the story of Amy Robsart, the ill-fated wife of Robert Dudley, a favorite suitor of Queen Elizabeth I, whose ghost was said to haunt Cumnor Hall until it was demolished in 1810. Now it prowls Cornbury Park, and it is said that those who encounter her ghost are doomed to die within ten days! From the October 1950 issue of 15 Mystery Stories it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: A Ghost Gets Revenge!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: A Ghost Gets Revenge
by Frederick Blakeslee (15 Mystery Stories, October 1950)

BACK with another of Frederick Blakeslee’s “Adventures Into The Unknown!” Blakeslee published fourteen installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the Unknown between March 1948 and October 1950. This time around Mr. Blakeslee relates the story of Burton Agnes Hall, built by Sir Henry Griffith during the first decade of the 1600’s. When his youngest daughter lay near death, she requested that her head be preserved in the walls of Burton Agnes Hall and if it were to ever be removed she would unleash unholy hell upon the manor until it was returned!

From the August 1950 issue of 15 Mystery Stories it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: The House of the Screaming Skull!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: The House of the Screaming Skull
by Frederick Blakeslee (15 Mystery Stories, August 1950)

BACK with another of Frederick Blakeslee’s “Adventures Into The Unknown!” Blakeslee published fourteen installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the Unknown between March 1948 and October 1950. This time around Mr. Blakeslee covers the Foxes and the “haunting” of their house in Hydesville, NY—an event which led to the rise of the spiritualist movement in America.

From the June 1950 issue of 15 Mystery Stories it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: The Corpus Delecti!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: The Corpus Delecti
by Frederick Blakeslee (15 Mystery Stories, June 1950)

BACK with another of Frederick Blakeslee’s “Adventures Into The Unknown!” Blakeslee published fourteen installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the Unknown between March 1948 and October 1950. This time around Mr. Blakeslee tells us about the grizzly murder of a newborn baby in 1577 and it’s spirit’s spectral revenge that results in the creation of another ghosts which has continued to haunt the area to this day.

From the April 1950 issue of 15 Mystery Stories it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: The Ghost of the Burning Baby!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: The Ghost of the Burning Baby
by Frederick Blakeslee (15 Mystery Stories, April 1950)

BACK with another of Frederick Blakeslee’s “Adventures Into The Unknown!” Blakeslee published fourteen installments of his two-page illustrated looks into the Unknown between March 1948 and October 1950. This time around Mr. Blakeslee tells us about the ghostly echoes of the bloody first battle of the English Civil War that continue to play out over the Edgehill fields! From the February 1950 issue of 15 Mystery Stories it’s “Adventures Into The Unknown: The Phantom Battle of Edgehill!”

ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN: The Phantom Battle of Edgehill
by Frederick Blakeslee (15 Mystery Stories, February 1950)

One of our favorite writers here at Age of Aces is Donald E. Keyhoe, but he is as well known for his UFO research as he is for the air war stories he wrote for the pulps. Here is one of his earliest books on the subject, published in 1950.

Keyhoe is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. He flew in active service with the Marine Corps, managed the tour of the historic plane in which Bennett and Byrd made their North Pole flight, was aide to Charles Lindbergh after the famous Paris flight, and was chief of information for the Aeronautics Branch, Department of Commerce.

• Download “The Flying Saucers Are Real” 1950, Fawcett Publications

The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin has a collection of The Mike Wallace Interview shows on line including the one he conducted with Major Donald E. Keyhoe in 1958.

The Mike Wallace Interview:
Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe
(March 8, 1958)