Early Western Short Stories of Bret Harte

 “Bret Harte was the first important American writer to use the early western mining settlements, the colorful lives of prospectors, gamblers, early ranchers and frontier women, and stage coach and derringer in his stories. He little knew that he thus was founding the most perennially popular type of American reading — the “western.” And because he actually lived during the colorful era of the early west and was undeniably a talented writer, his stories are not only the first but among the finest “westerns” ever written.” — From the inside flap of Bret Harte Stories of the Early West 

I decided to read some westerns this month for a YouTube/BookTube event called June On the Range. After I discovered Bret Harte in a western anthology, I found a collection of his short stories during a recent visit to a used bookstore, Stories of the Early West: The Luck of Roaring Camp and 16 Other Exciting Tales of Mining and Frontier Days (Platt & Munk, 1964).

These stories are pre-westerns in a sense, as many of them are about the men and women of mining camps and early settlements, as opposed to stories about cowboys, cattle drives, and Native American Indians. I found them to be an interesting look at life in the early west. 

How Santa Claus Came to Simpson's Bar (3/5)

After a small settlement is cut off by flooding, the men of the town decide to do something to help a sick young boy celebrate Christmas. There's a wild ride at the end as one of the men braves flooded rivers and a bandit as he’s trying to return in time.

Tennessee’s Partner (4/5)

This story is about the friendship between two men with the nicknames Tennessee and Tennessee's Partner, in a gold mining settlement. Tennessee is a gambler and drinker with a sense of humor but his partner is more serious and hardworking. The partner sticks by Tennessee’s side even after being betrayed by him and after Tennessee is accused of theft. An interesting story about friendship and loyalty. 

An Ingenue of the Sierras (4/5)

Stagecoach driver Yuba Bill has to deal with bandits and a mysterious young passenger who says she is eloping. Bill is smart and resourceful, he’s not perfect, but he has a sense of humor. Great characters with a great ending that had me laughing. 

The Outcasts of Poker Flat  (5/5)

Four “undesirables” who have been banished from the town of Poker Flat and a young couple traveling to the town get caught in a snowstorm. They find some shelter but have limited provisions. I thought the story was really moving. I loved the prose, the characters, and the various decisions that characters made. 

The Luck of Roaring Camp (5/5)

An orphaned baby brings changes to a California gold mining camp. Harte brings the camp to life as he describes the miners taking care of the baby, how they stop fighting and gambling, and how they work together to improve the conditions of the camp. Beauty, humor, and tragedy all in a few pages. Excellent. 

The spaghetti western Four of the Apocalypse (1975) directed by horror master Lucio Fulci is based on this story and "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." 

Poetry 

Harte was also a successful poet. Many if not all his poems are available to read for free online. I read a few of them on the All Poetry website and I like what I’ve read of it so far.

The Mark Twain Connection 

Bret Harte met Mark Twain when Twain was a freelance journalist and moved to California. When they met Harte was the more established of the two and he mentored Twain. In a letter to editor Thomas Bailey Aldrich (included in The Life of Thomas Bailey Aldrich by Ferris Grenslet, Riverside Press, 1908) Twain wrote:

 “...Bret Harte who trimmed and trained and schooled me patiently until he changed me from an awkward utterer of course grotesqueness to a writer of paragraphs and chapters that have found a certain favor in the eyes of even some of the very decentest people in the land….”

Twain of course would go on to be more well known than Harte, who’s fame and fortune did not last long. Unfortunately they had a serious falling out and Twain never forgave him even after Harte passed away. I find it interesting to contrast that with the events in Harte’s story “Tennessee's Partner.”

Fun Fact

Singer-songwriter Neil Young had a dog named Harte, which he apparently named after the author. 

In Conclusion 

Bret Harte seems to be little remembered today but there was a time in the 1870s when he was the best-known and highest-paid writer in America. I’ve read some reviews that compare Harte’s stories to the work of Charles Dickens regarding his plots, characters, sentimentality, satire and humor, both in a positive and negative way. I can see that based on the ones I’ve read, but so far I see it as a positive comparison. I like Harte’s writing style, his place descriptions, and especially his characters. I’ll be reading more. 

Harte’s short story collection The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales (1870) and his poetry collection Complete Poetical Works (1872) are available on Project Gutenberg.