Bret Harte Biography

When discussing 19th century authors, critics are sure to discuss a name that brought a new feel to the local color writing scene. After amassing a great amount of wealth and signing the largest contract of his time it can be argued that Bret Harte was the greatest writer of his time. Some would argue that his work was dry, but others would agree that his thought provoking work really reflected who he was and where he came from.

Bret Harte lived a very interesting life that left a lasting impression on the world of Literature (Hively). Francis Bret Harte was born in Albany, New York on August 25, 1836 (Franks). Harte’s poverty-stricken family moved numerous times throughout his life (Franks). After his father died Harte and his sisters followed their mother to California (Franks). Over the course of a few years he was involved in school teaching, typesetting, mining, politics, and journalism (Folsom). Around 16, Henry, Bret's brother who had enlisted in the army, from time to time would send letters replete with stories of his experiences fighting in the Mexican War (Franks). It was during this time that Bret became inspired to write more poems (Hively). In 1853 his mother moved to Union, California where she married one of her husband’s friends (Hively). In 1857, when he moved to Union, California, Harte began his career in journalism (Franks). He worked for the newspaper in Union from 1858 to 1860 (Folsom). He was forced out of town after an issue of the newspaper in which he published an account of the Mad River Indian massacre of 1860, the slaughter by local whites of all Indians attending a three-day religious festival. In 1878 he was appointed to the United States consular service in Germany (Franks). The rest of his life w...

... middle of paper ...

...bout or having heard of the Gold Rush (Hall). The sentimental tone of this story is very important as the feeling of excessive emotion is tempered by humor (Morrow). This story was so vivid, though only ten pages, that it made readers feel the presence of the mining camp without being there (Morrow). How a writer could do that in only ten pages was beyond the reach of any critic who analyzed the text. After reading this story, you also knew how a forty-niner thought and felt (Schraufnagel). If written at a later time, at worst this story was easily a Pulitzer Prize winner (Morrow).

Harte transformed the west into something that has lived on far beyond the Gold Rush. He can almost be seen as sort of the heart of Western literary fiction after he pumped blood into unmarked territory. Harte’s transformation of the west will continue to live on far beyond his lifetime.