Bret Harte
The sharp-witted chronicler of the California Gold Rush who invented the archetype of the western gambler and miner, then watched American fame abandon him.
1836–1902 (age 66)·American fiction writer and poet·Birthday: August 25
Biography
Bret Harte was the first writer to package the raw, chaotic experience of the American West for a hungry Eastern audience. As a young man in 1850s California, he worked as a miner, messenger, and schoolteacher, absorbing the dialects and desperate hopes of the boomtowns. As editor of the influential Overland Monthly, he published stories like 'The Luck of Roaring Camp' and 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat,' which mixed sentimental portraits of rough-hewn miners and fallen women with a clear, ironic eye. His formula was a sensation, making him a national celebrity and creating the template for the Western genre. Hired by The Atlantic Monthly at an unprecedented salary, he left the West for good in 1871. But his inspiration seemed to dry up with the distance. His later years were spent in Europe, writing increasingly formulaic work, a poignant figure who had mined a literary mother lode early, only to spend the rest of his life trying to recapture its richness.
#1 When Bret Was Born
The biggest hits of 1836
Bret's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1836Born
1841Started school
1849Became a teenager
1852Could drive
1854Could vote
1857Turned 21
1866Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1876Turned 40
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1886Turned 50
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1896Turned 60
First modern Olympic Games held in Athens
President: Grover Cleveland
1902Died at 66
The eruption of Mount Pelee kills 30,000 in Martinique
President: Theodore Roosevelt
Key Achievements
- Pioneered the local-color story of the American West with seminal works like 'The Luck of Roaring Camp' and 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat.'
- As editor of the Overland Monthly, he helped establish a distinctive literary voice for California and the West.
- Secured a groundbreaking one-year contract with The Atlantic Monthly for $10,000, the highest literary salary of its time, based on his Western fame.
- Served as a U.S. Consul in Germany and Scotland, appointments gained through his literary reputation.
- His characters and settings established archetypes that profoundly influenced later Western fiction and film.
Did You Know?
He famously feuded with Mark Twain, his former friend and collaborator; their mutual disdain lasted for decades.
He named his first son after his friend, the poet and critic Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Despite his fame for writing about miners, his own attempts at prospecting for gold were complete failures.
He spent the last 24 years of his life living in England and Scotland, never returning to the United States.
Charles Dickens was an early admirer of his work and helped promote it in England.
“"The slightest advance in the social condition of the miner is the result of law, order, and civilization."”
