“Is That Robert E. Howard?”: A Look at Two Photographs Part 2

By John Bullard and Bill “Indy” Cavalier

In Part 1, we presented the arguments on whether the photograph known as “Dude on a Rock” was Robert E. Howard or not. In this second part, we will present the arguments on whether the person in the photograph known as “The Three Swordsmen” is Howard. Numbers in front of the photos’ identifications correspond to the photos’ numbers in the upcoming photobook of Robert E. Howard, “This Isn’t To Flaunt My Homely Countenance”: The Robert E. Howard Photo Album, from the Robert E. Howard Foundation Press.

Photo #2: “The Three Swordsmen” Photo

There are some REH scholars that don’t believe this well-known photo is of Robert E. Howard, Truett Vinson, and Clyde Smith. Here are the arguments for and against:

“Yes, That is Robert E. Howard in ‘The Three Swordsmen’ Photograph”

By John Bullard

The argument that the person on the left in the famous “The Three Swordsmen” picture isn’t Robert E. Howard doesn’t stand up to the evidence and to critical thinking. They claim that the two people in the photograph starting from the left aren’t Robert Howard and Truett Vinson. Let’s examine the evidence starting with whether that is Truett Vinson in the middle of the trio.

Is that Truett Vinson in the middle?

The middle person’s identity is easily proven. Here is a close-up of the person’s face:

Now, let’s look at some photographs of Truett Vinson to compare to the mystery person:

 

As you can see from the photographs of Truett, he had a particularly identifiable nose that matches the mystery person’s nose to a “T”. The mystery person’s chin, eyes and ears also match up to Truett’s chin, eyes and ears. There can be no doubt that the person in the middle of “The Three Swordsmen” picture is Truett Vinson. Now, on to the big question: Who is the person on the left of the trio?

That is Robert Howard on the left.

The biggest point by nay-sayers is that it doesn’t look like Robert E. Howard. Let’s examine that argument right now.

Here is a blown-up portion of the photo specifically of the person’s head:

Let’s compare it to some photos of Howard from about the same age-range as the “Swordsmen” photo:

The forehead hairline of the person in the “Swordsmen” photo matches Howard’s hairline in the boxing photo with Clyde Smith. We can’t tell with the other two photos used for comparison if that is so due to Howard having longer hair that is hanging down covering the hairline. However, the nose matches in all three of the known Howard photos.

The next big distinguishing characteristic to look at is the ear. The “Swordsmen” photo matches the first two photos of Howard, but due to its small size and low information count not allowing proper enlargement, the ear can’t be accurately determined in the “Patches” photograph. So, the person’s head and facial features in the “Swordsmen” photo physically appear to match Robert E. Howard.

The person’s height also looks like it matches with Howard’s height, although we can’t be sure due to the unevenness of the ground the men are standing on, their positions with each other, and the position of the photographer to them. Howard stated his height in several of his letters to Harold Preece, H.P. Lovecraft, and others as ranging from 5’ 10’ to 6’. Both Clyde Smith and Truett Vinson were over 6’ in height. The man on the left is clearly shorter than them

What else can be gleaned from the photograph to add to the proof that it is indeed Robert E. Howard?

The picket fence in the photo matches the fence for the Howard House as seen in several of the photos of Howard with Patches (photos #’s 7 and 8) , and in the backyard with the Butler children (photos #’s 11 – 15). The three men are holding swords, and Howard was known to have a collection of several types of swords. So, the surroundings in the photo tend to match the Howard House property and the items in the photo could easily have come from Howard’s possessions.

Now, let’s examine the photograph in trying to logically think through who the person could be if it’s not Bob Howard.

We have photographs of many of Bob’s closest friends to compare to the person in the picture to see if they might be the person. We can automatically remove Clyde Smith and Truett Vinson, as they are the two men to the right of the enigmatic swordsman. Who else could that person be from Bob’s friends? Here are the names of the people we know about who lived in the area and visited Bob:

Lindsey Tyson
Dave Lee
Dock Lee
Austin Newton
Leroy Butler
Herbert Klatt

As you have seen in this book, we have pictures of everyone but Dock Lee, Dave’s Brother. Most of the pictures that we have of these people are close in age to the person in the “Swordsmen” photograph. Let’s look at close-ups of them and compare them to the mystery man in the picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we don’t have a picture of Dock Lee, Dave’s brother to compare. However, we can eliminate two of the friends as the third person, Austin Newton and Lindsey Tyson. The person in the “Swordsmen” photo looks nothing like Newton or Tyson. The only person who bears a slight resemblance to the mystery man is Dave Lee. Let’s look at some other photos of Dave to see if he could be the person:

 

 

 

 

 

Clearly, that’s not Dave Lee in the “Swordsmen” photo. Next,  we have Leroy Butler. Here are closeups of him from some of the photos with Bob and Faustine:

 

 

 

 

 

Leroy can be eliminated as he looks nothing like the person in the “Swordsmen” photograph. Furthermore, and fairly conclusively, his ears don’t match the mystery man’s ears.

The final friend of Howard’s is Herbert Klatt. Klatt never visited Howard in Cross Plains, but he did meet Howard, Smith, and Vinson in Brownwood, and the four friends then went to Smith’s uncle’s ranch for a weekend of fun. If the Swordsmen photo was taken at Howard’s house in Cross Plains, then Klatt is eliminated as the mystery man. However, if the photo was taken at the uncle’s ranch, then does Klatt bear any resemblance to the mystery man? Let’s look:

The mystery man looks nothing like Herbert Klatt.

So, what can we say at this point about the person in the photograph?

Looking at the photograph logically, we can say that it is of Bob’s two closest friends, Clyde Smith and Truett Vinson holding swords in a group pose reminiscent of the “Three Musketeers”. The three men are holding swords which Bob was known to have a collection of. They are in a yard surrounded by a picket fence that matches the fence around the Howard House, including that the fence was not painted in any of the Butler Kids photos. The third unknown person doesn’t match any of the other close friends Howard had in the Cross Plains area that we have photographs of. We have photographs of Bob, Clyde and Truett engaged in staged shots of similar physical activity/“cosplay”—boxing, “cavemen” fighting with a spear, and “The Beach Combers’ Argument”, as you have seen earlier in the book. One can only ask, “Why would Bob not be in the photograph?”

The final bit of evidence that should prove that that is Robert E. Howard in the photograph is from one of the Butler Kids photos. Sadly, whoever took the Butler Kids picture only caught part of Bob’s head in the photo, but when a closeup of it is compared to the “Swordsmen” photo that has been rotated to match the angle of the Butler Kids photo, it is a very close match—hairline, hair type and style, nose, brow, and chin:

 

 

 

 

 

That “is” Robert E. Howard in “The Three Swordsmen” photograph.

And now for Bill Cavalier’s rebuttal:

The Three Swordsmen Photo and Why the Guy on the Left is

NOT Robert E. Howard

by Bill Cavalier

I’ve argued for a while now that in The Three Swordsmen photo labeled as REH, Lindsey Tyson and Clyde Smith, the fellow on the left is not REH but Truett Vinson. We have lots of photos of Bob Howard and a good supply of images of Truett Vinson, so comparisons and dismissals can be made.

A number of the photos identified as Truett show a fellow with a pointy chin, a slightly hooked nose, distinctly shaped head and longish combed back hair with dark sideburns that come down to the middle of his ear.

The Truett photos also show a fellow who appears to be not quite as tall as REH, Lindsey Tyson or Clyde Smith.

In The Three Musketeers photo, the fellow on the left, of the three with swords raised, appears to be somewhat shorter than Truett or Clyde, and the profile he presents is NOT the profile of REH, in my opinion.

 

 

 

This is the profile from The Three Swordsmen photo #157.

 

 

 

This is the profile from photo #18.

 

 

 

This is the profile from photo #19.

 

 

 

 

This is the profile from photo #20.

 

 

 

 

This is the profile from the Friends section #71.

All five of these examples show what I mentioned: fellow with a pointy chin, a slightly hooked nose, distinctly shaped head and longish combed back hair with dark sideburns that come down to the middle of his ear (except in photo #20).

Photos 18, 19, 20, and 71 are identified as Truett Vinson and I contend that he is the man on the left in The Three Musketeers photo.

Howard Speculation! Let the game play on!

Conclusion

We hope you have enjoyed these arguments on whether the two photos are of Robert E. Howard or not, and that from looking at the pictures, you are now interested in buying a copy of the forthcoming photo album. In addition, I would like to thank Bill Cavalier for his help on the photo book, and especially for taking the time to write up his arguments for and against the two photos, and also for his allowing me to post his arguments here on Keith’s blog. Thanks, Bill!

John Bullard is a retired attorney who has been editing the Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard for what feels like a lifetime.

 

 

 

Bill “Indy Cavalier” is a long-time Howard scholar and editor of REHUPA.