Western writer Kelton relies on the desert

FORT STOCKTON Standing at Comanche Springs Park, there may not be as much water as there once was, but it's not hard to imagine the characters in Elmer Kelton's "Cloudy in the West" stopping here.

Fort Stockton is a real location used by Kelton. In a recent interview, Kelton, who's been voted the All-Time Best Western Author by the Western Writers of America, said he's also used fictionalized versions of area communities, as well.

Not surprisingly, Kelton used a fictionalized Crane in his 1991 novel "Honor at Daybreak." The author grew up on McElroy Ranch outside Crane.

"I had things happen (in the book) that didn't really happen in Crane," he said. "But I always saw Crane as being the focal point."
Among the story bound activities that happened in Caprock (the fictional Crane) was a strong gangster element, Kelton said.
Kelton said using real locations as a basis is common in his writing.

"It always helps me to have a real place in mind," he said. "That way I can see where everything is."

But in "Cloudy in the West," much of the book focuses on a planned trip through Fort Stockton in the 1880s. Kelton described the community where characters Joey Shipman and Alister McIntosh stopped.

"From where the sheep forded, Fort Stockton lay almost due south on a trail worn deeply by years of wagon traffic," he wrote. "The course crossed an irrigation canal that diverted some of the river's flow to nearby Mexican farms. McIntosh watered the flock at a large spring which poured forth what Joey considered a tremendous body of water despite the desert terrain's dry nature."

Kelton said he included Comanche Springs because it was an important site for settlers in transport to stay. Historically, it served as the impetus for the nearby military outpost and the city to form around.

Much of Kelton's research about area history was conducted at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland, he said.
Kathy Shannon, the museum's executive director, said the facility is a good place to learn. Included in its library is a collection from Samuel Myers, which she called "the definitive history of oil in this area."

The museum has 450,000 photographs on file, along with numerous oil periodicals.

"It's a wonderful resource," she said. "Unfortunately, it's our best kept secret."