Just found this. I've read it a few times many years ago. My copy got ruined when my apartment flooded.

Anyway, it's a very good read.

https://archive.org/stream/Hell_I_W...There_Elemer_Keith_Autobigraphy_djvu.txt

Here is one of my favorite passages from Elmer Keith talking about his childhood. It gives me a good laugh every time.

One evening Si and I had herded the
cattle through town, put them in the stock-
yard, and we had just shut the gate when a
big Negro came running towards us. He
scared us. My brother could run like the
wind, and I never could run good, so Si soon
left me. Well, the big black man kept right
after me. I seen that I couldn't outrun him,
and I had a slingshot in my hip pocket with
some good dime rubbers I'd bought at the
drugstore. In another pocket I had a bunch of
.36 caliber Colt round balls. To get them, we
had dug the babbitt metal out of the boxes on
the axles of the Santa Fe freight cars and run
it in this old .36 Colt mold.

Those .36 Colt round ball molds made very
good ammunition for the slingshot. One day I
killed three cottontails and a quail with this
outfit. Seeing that the man was going to catch
me, I jerked the slingshot out of my pocket,
unwound it and put a bunch of .36 balls in
my mouth, put one in the bed and just as I
figured he was going to get me, I whirled
around, pulled it to my ear and let him have
it, right in the face.

I saw his two front upper teeth go. They
clicked quite loud. He grabbed his face with
both hands hollering, "Oh, lawdy" and stag-
gered around behind a spring wagon.

Sorta gave me a chuckle too.

Fun. Thanks for the link.

Ernie

It's worth bookmarking.

Interesting fact,...Elmer Keith's family is from Cynthiana, Kentucky.

I was born at Hardin, Ray County, Mis-
souri, March the 8th, 1899, the son of
Forrest Everett and Linnie Neal Keith.
Mother was a Merrifield and her mother
was a descendant from Benjamin Merrill, who
started the first revolution against the British
four years before the American Revolution.
His small army was crushed by the British.
He was captured, hung, and drawn-and-quar-
tered on the scaffold. My Grandmother Keith
was Druzilla Ann Cummins before her mar-
riage to Silas Keith in Cynthiana, Kentucky
in 1850.

I know what ill be doing this weekend. Thanks

Also, I just noticed that if you click "see other formats" in the upper left of the page, the book appears as photo copies of the original.

What do you reckon an autographed copy #396 out 500 is worth? I've got one and have never read it.

I have no idea, but I'd say a lot of people would want to buy it.

Thanks for the post.

Good post, Bristle.

I've sat here and read the evening away.

I started thinking about how my copy of the book got ruined in that little flood episode when I lived in the apartment,...then I started thinking about what year it was that I lived in the apartment,..and realized that it was 19 years ago.

I'm enjoying reading it again,...even though I've been through it several times.

I picked up this autographed copy at a gun show in Kalispell for $35.00...

Thanks, snagged kindle version

I have no use for the blowhard. I'll give him the shrewd businessman wink though.

Well,...I can understand why some people look at his writing and think that.

But, it was written by an 80 year old man relating a life that was lived in a different era.

It wouldn't be a very entertaining book if it had been written by somebody who was humble.

In fact, an unassuming fellow wouldn't have lived Elmer Keith's life.

It's unrealistic to expect somebody who has lived that life to write about it in an unassuming manner.

I know an older man who lives near Boise. He was a friend of Elmer Keith when he lived in Salmon. He fished and hunted with Keith, plus was an assiduous gun collector.

He told me that Keith was as good shot as he wrote about in his books and Guns & Ammo Magazine columns.

L.W.

I got a good laugh out of this, too.

One fall day I rode down to Winston to get
the mail and was over at Valentine's saloon
talking to some of the neighbors when Bert
Lanning's mule came in to town, kicking and
bucking for all he was worth. Con Sweeney
and Tom Miles jumped their saddle horses
and roped the mule. They threw the mule
and stretched her out.

The saddle was under her belly, but part of
the sack went back up to the top of her back.
There was something moving in the sack. I
couldn't figure what it was so I pulled the .45
out and put two slugs through the sack just so
it could clear the mule's belly. They hit the
hard ground and howled away. That limbered
up whatever was in the sack. So I undid the
cinches, got the saddle off, and bless Moses,
there was a bunch of long black claws hooked
right around the mule's back. I took my knife,
cut the sack open, and there was a big old
golden eagle he had in there. I cut the eagle's
leg off at the joint, but I still couldn't get the
claws out. One of the boys came out of Valen-
tine's saloon with a pair of pliers and we got
hold of the heads of the cords and retracted
the claws and got the foot clear of the mule's
back. Ross Degan came out then with a bottle
of moonshine, poured that on the mule's back
and she sure did bray. We tied the mule up
and went back in the saloon.

About an hour later Bert Lanning came
limping in. His whole backside was frosted
with prickly pear. He had a tale of woe. He'd
caught this eagle in a trap and he had it sold
for $25 to the zoo, so he put it in a sack and
tied it on behind the saddle. Then the eagle
worked one foot around, got a-hold of the
mule's back, and all hell broke loose. She
bucked Bert off in a pile of prickly pear, and
took off. We laid Bert on the pool table, got
his pants down, and the boys picked the
prickly pear spines out with pliers. They barb
like a porcupine quill, and are very painful.
When we got Bert's backside pretty well
cleaned out, Ross Degan came around with a
bottle of moonshine and doused him with
that. Poor old Bert just about went through
the roof. He was certainly mad. He says,
"Keith goes and shoots my eagle, I get bucked
off in the prickly pear, and then, Degan, you
damn fool, you pour whiskey on it."

A sip of trivia for what it may be worth to anybody �

The word Hell in the title of his book was his editor's insertion (to make the title "saltier").

It infuriated salty old cowboy Elmer, who carefully eschewed salty language that ladies and children could hear or read. He considered it unfit for public expression. He didn't even use "bad words" that Lorraine might hear him say.

And of course he didn't see that insertion until after the book was published.

� the only thing that I ever heard that quiet old man rant about.

Excellent read, thanks.

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate you taking time to make that post. Hope all is well up your way.

Thank you for that link, I lost my copy in the hurricane and miss it.

I think Elmer charged me $20 for mine.

Just wanted to post and say thanks to Bristoe for posting the link to this book.

I have spent the weekend reading it, and it is so much better than the copy of Sixguns that I downloaded to my kindle.

I had no idea that Keith was older than my grandfather, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Thanks again,
Joel

I apologize up front for reviving this older thread however, it appears that the link in the OP is no longer working. I have looked high and low to find a .pdf of "Hell, I was There" and I figured that if anyone could help, it would be you all...

If someone has it downloaded and would be willing to email a copy to me, please let me know and I'll shoot you my address by pm.

Thank you all in advance and have a great day.
John

http://www.elmerkeithshoot.org/GA/1982_11_Best_of.pdf

Same here. Painful to read in my opinion.



Travis

Another link

http://www.elmerkeithshoot.org/GA/

If you'd known him, you'd have liked him. He was quite a man.

I wondered if I would have liked EK in person, and I doubt it. the books of his that i've tried to read are almost to the point of being moronic.

Captbutch, thank you for the links to the Gun Notes excerpts. Do you know of a full .pdf for "Hell, I was There?"

Thank you in advance,
John

I met Elmer Keith in the Peterson's Magazine booth at the SHOT Show in St. Louis many years ago. Up till that point I believed like others that he was a loud raucous blow hard. I couldn't have been more wrong, he was rather quiet and soft spoken, a true gentleman from an earlier age. I have read and enjoyed several of his books and own a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum manufactured just a few months later than the first one that S&W sent him. Great man, great gun, great cartridge.

The link didn't work for me.

I own his book "Sixguns" and that's about all the bloviation I can handle.

THAT's gonna leave a mark!!!

I've read that when O'Connor saw him coming at a gun show he'd nudge people and say, "Look, here comes Mr. Bullshit."

But if you actually enjoy reading poorly written tall tales.....by all means, BUY his book, don't look for ways to get it free.

+1

Mr. Gutshot.

Whilst I am a firm believer in paying for what I get, this book is long out of print with (as far as I am aware), no plans of reprinting; hence, my search for a .pdf copy. Those points notwithstanding, if a copy were available for reasonable cost, I would gladly pay for it. Are you perchance aware of a copy at or near the original cover price?

Thank you in advance and have a great day.
John

been 20 yrs since i loaned my copy out and never got it back'

It's offered on Amazon.

Plenty available.

What's the problem?

The comparison between O'Connor and Keith was simple:

O'Connor was highly educated, Keith was not
O'Connor vacationed in rough country, Keith lived in it
O'Connor went on guided hunts, Keith guided hunts
O'Connor was a supercilious elitist, Keith was down to earth

Just my two cents, never met either man, although I saw Elmer once when he was old and frail. Read just about everything either one wrote.

If that is true his real life persona must have been 180 degrees from his writing.



Travis

Mr. Gutshot.

No problem at all, I sincerely hope that I did not come across that way and if I did, please accept my apologies.

Perhaps our misunderstanding arises from a difference in the interpretation of the term "reasonable cost." A disabled vet and full time student on a fixed income cringes a wee bit at paying the prices available through Amazon... On the other hand, for around the cost of 2 lbs. of powder, one can get their hands on a copy so maybe I should quit my whining and pony up!

Thank you all for the lively discussion. The "Grand Old Man" definitely told it how he saw it and that has never been the most productive ingredient in creating agreement.

Thank you again and good day to all.
John

The whole story is told in the front of Keith's book "Gun notes."

The editor starts the book with a WARNING in large letters.

He cautions that handloaders should NOT try to duplicate the muzzle velocities Keith claims for his handloads.......because they are estimates.

Estimates. Estimating muzzle velocities and laying it out in print as fact.

This is symbolic of the entire problem with Keith's
writing.....it's impossible to tell what might be fact and what might be "ESTIMATES."

The WARNING that was given would be more realistic if it said instead.....

THIS BOOK OF COLORFUL TALES IS BEST READ AS FICTION.

I met Elmer when I was about ten years of age. He was really, really kind to this gunny kid and I totally appreciated that.

We kept up a correspondence for many years. He coached my big game hunting and got me into handloading. Eventually, he was responsible for my first article ... the .338-'06 one in Handloader Magazine.

Karen and I visited the Keith's in salmon, Idaho just after our honeymoon and he loved my new lassie.

I wish I'd kept all of the handwritten letters he sent me, but I have only a couple. I DID, however, keep every single book he ever sent me.

This is in the front of the copy of Hell I Was There that my friend Elmer sent me as a gift. I treasure it.



What would a copy of Hell I Was There be worth to the original person to whom it was sent as a present? .... PRICELESS.

Blessings,

Steve

Well, of course we all try to get a bargain when we can. Sometimes if you keep checking Amazon and e-Bay one will turn up at a surprisingly low price (but you have to keep at it diligently).

Prices now are not that high when adjusted for inflation and compared to the first issue prices.

Also, the sooner the available copies are purchased, the sooner someone will issue a new and reasonably priced paperback copy.

When O'Connor was a kid, there was a time his family (divorced mom and siblings) lived in a tent in Nogales, Territory of Arizona (not yet a state.)
When WWI broke out he lied about his age and joined the Army at age 15. He got kicked out due to chronic tuberculosis. He joined the Navy a couple of years later and served as a hospital corpsman.
The older, successful O'Connor went on guided hunts. The younger O'Connor was a pretty tough desert rat. Some of his hunts for Desert Sheep in Mexico were pretty close to exercises in survival.

Keith had a hell of a rough time too, especially the part about being in a fire as a kid. I think Keith had the tougher time of it. But, O'Connor was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he earned what he achieved.

I don't pick a side in Keith/O'Connor. There is a lot to be learned from both.

That blow hard always gave me a chuckle.

There was a time when not everyone owned a chronograph, in fact a time when the ones available were not so easy to use and existed basically in HP white labs or ammunition factories only.re

There was a time when all the sporting chamberings we take for granted today, did not yet exist because no one had invented them.

There was a time before laser rangefinders, and bullet drop compensators and drop and drift charts.

That was Elmer's time. He was an interesting man that lived in interesting times and who did a lot of experimentation on bullets and loads and shared what he learned with others through his writings. Some can appreciate who and what he was, others can't.

Your best post - ever!

Wow Steve, I could only WISH to have been a correspondent with ole Elmer! My wife gave me a copy of the book many years ago when it came out. I haven't re-read it lately but I can remember just shaking my head after reading many passages thinking, "man, he was one tough Mofo!"

At the time he was writing almost no one had chronographs so I can understand that loads' estimated velocities didn't actually turn out that way when run over a chrono. Though the velocities of some of his loads may have been lower than estimated they were ones that WORKED regardless of what their actual velocities were.

I think many of us have been disappointed when our "pet loads" of many years didn't reach expectations when we finally got our own chrono and tested them.

Dang it, reading this thread makes me want to go out and buy a S&W Model 29.

I doubt if Elmer where alive today that he'd be asking for a S&W M29 on the Campfire....

Folks,

This has definitely excited more discussion than I anticipated and I wish you all joy of it! If anyone knows of a copy available, I'd love to get my hands on one. Thank you all for the frank and honest discussion of Elmer's writings. Good, bad, or indifferent, I remain a fan of everything he ever wrote.

Have a blessed weekend.
John

He was an interesting man who lived in interesting times and his "ESTIMATES" for the velocities of his loads were always HIGH, not low.

Which is why editors have to issue "DANGER" warnings.

'Nuff said.

I'm guessing he's likely the reason kids have to wear helmets and elbow pads on a bicycle too.

When good decomes evil and evil good, unbecoming will become becoming. I guess, not yet.

Because he shot too many .505 Gibbs loads without a helmet?

That would explain a lot.