Portrait of Bret Harte - oil painting by John Pettie (1884)^[1]

Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 6, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 380 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (570 × 900 pixel, file size: 143 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 380 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (570 × 900 pixel, file size: 143 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Faithful reproductions of two-dimensional original works cannot attract copyright in the U.S. according to the rule in Bridgeman Art Library v. ... John Pettie (17 March 1839 - 21 February 1893) was a Scottish painter. ... This article is about the professional wrestler. ... Bret Harte is a census-designated place located in Stanislaus County, California. ... is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1836 (MDCCCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Authorship redirects here. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ...

Life and career

Born in Albany, New York, Harte moved to California in 1853, later working there in a number of capacities, including miner, teacher, messenger, and journalist. He spent part of his life in the northern California coast town now known as Arcata, then just a mining camp on Humboldt Bay. For other uses, see Albany. ... “NY” redirects here. ... Arcata is a city located in Humboldt County, California. ... Humboldt Bay is located in Humboldt County along the rugged north coast of California, United States. ...

His first literary efforts, including poetry and prose, appeared in The Californian, an early literary journal edited by Charles Henry Webb. In 1868 he became editor of The Overland Monthly, another new literary magazine, but this one more in tune with the pioneering spirit of excitement in California. His story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp," appeared in the magazine's second edition, propelling Harte to nationwide fame. A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. ... Overland Monthly was a monthly magazine based in California published in the 19th and 20th century. ...

When word of Dickens' death reached Bret Harte in July of 1870, he immediately sent a dispatch across the bay to San Francisco to hold back the forthcoming publication of his Overland Monthly for twenty-four hours, so that he could compose the poetic tribute, Dickens in Camp. This work is considered by many of Harte's admirers as his masterpiece of verse, for its evident sincerity, the depth of feeling it displays, and the unusual quality of its poetic expression. Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870), pen-name “Boz”, was an English novelist of the Victorian era. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ...

Bret Harte's gravestone in the churchyard of St Peter's Church, Frimley, Surrey, England

Inscription on gravestone

Determined to pursue his literary career, in 1871 he and his family traveled back East, to New York and eventually to Boston, where he contracted with a publisher for an annual salary of $10,000, "an unprecedented sum at the time."^[2] His popularity waned, however, and by the end of 1872 he was without a publishing contract and increasingly desperate. He spent the next few years struggling to publish new work (or republish old), delivering lectures about the gold rush, and even selling an advertising jingle to a soap company. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 630 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1293 × 1231 pixel, file size: 879 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I took this photograph today of Bret Hartes gravestone in the Churchyard of St Peters Church, Frimley, Surrey, England. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 630 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1293 × 1231 pixel, file size: 879 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I took this photograph today of Bret Hartes gravestone in the Churchyard of St Peters Church, Frimley, Surrey, England. ... Frimley High Street looking East, Jan 2006 Frimley High Street looking West, Jan 2006 Frimley shown on the map The Road from London to Southampton by John Ogilby dated 1675 Frimley is a small town on the outskirts of Camberley, Surrey, England, situated just under 30 miles WSW of Central... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 310 pixelsFull resolution (1495 × 579 pixel, file size: 465 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I took this photograph today of the inscription on Bret Hartes gravestone in the Churchyard of St Peters Church, Frimley, Surrey, England. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 310 pixelsFull resolution (1495 × 579 pixel, file size: 465 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) I took this photograph today of the inscription on Bret Hartes gravestone in the Churchyard of St Peters Church, Frimley, Surrey, England. ... “NY” redirects here. ... “Boston” redirects here. ...

In 1878 Harte was appointed to the position of United States Consul in the town of Krefeld, Germany and then to Glasgow in 1880. In 1885 he settled in London. During the thirty years he spent in Europe, he never abandoned writing, and maintained a prodigious output of stories that retained the freshness of his earlier work. He died in England in 1902 and is buried at Frimley. In 1987 he appeared on a $5 U.S. Postage stamp, as part of the "Great Americans" Series of issues. Consul (abbrev. ... Krefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Frimley High Street looking East, Jan 2006 Frimley High Street looking West, Jan 2006 Frimley shown on the map The Road from London to Southampton by John Ogilby dated 1675 Frimley is a small town on the outskirts of Camberley, Surrey, England, situated just under 30 miles WSW of Central... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ...

Criticism

Writing in his autobiography four years after Harte's death, Mark Twain famously insults Harte, characterizing him and his writing as insincere; he criticizes the miners' dialect, claiming it never existed outside of the story ("The Luck of Roaring Camp"). Twain reserves his most damning statements for Harte's personal life, especially after Harte left the West. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910),[1] better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. ...

Dramatic and Musical Adaptations of on Harte's work

• Several film versions of The Outcasts of Poker Flat have been made, including one in 1937 with Preston Foster and another in 1952 with Dale Robertson. Tennessee's Partner (1955) with John Payne and Ronald Reagan was based on a story of the same name. Paddy Chayefsky's treatment of the film version of Paint Your Wagon seems to borrow from "Tennessee's Partner": two close friends -- one named "Pardner" -- share the same woman. The spaghetti western Four of the Apocalypse is based on The Outcasts of Poker Flat and The Luck of Roaring Camp.
• Operas based on The Outcasts of Poker Flat include those by Samuel Adler[1] and by Stanford Beckler.[2]

The Outcasts of Poker Flat is a short story by Bret Harte. ... Preston Foster (August 24, 1901-July 14, 1970) was an American stage and film actor. ... Dale Robertson (born 14 July 1923 in Harrah, Oklahoma) is an American actor. ... Tennessees Partner is a 1955 film starring Ronald Reagan in what Peter Bogdanovich calls his most likeable performance. ... There have been several well-known people named John Payne, including: John Payne (actor) John Payne (poet). ... “Reagan” redirects here. ... Sidney Aaron Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) known as Paddy Chayefsky was an acclaimed dramatist who transitioned from the golden age of American live television in the 1950s to have a successful career as a playwright and screenwriter for Hollywood. ... Paint Your Wagon is a 1951 Broadway musical comedy, with book and lyrics by Alan J. Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California. ... Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars Once Upon a Time in the West, in true Sergio Leone style, ends with an extended shootout scene between Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and Frank (Henry Fonda). ... Four of the Apocalypse ( aka I Quattro dellapocalisse) is a (1975) spaghetti western starring Fabio Testi and directed by horror film maestro Lucio Fulci. ... The Outcasts of Poker Flat is a short story by Bret Harte. ... The Luck of Roaring Camp is a short story by American author Bret Harte. ... Samuel Adler (1809-1891) was born in Worms Germany, and became a rabbi in 1842. ...

Other works

• Plain Language from Truthful James, known also as The Heathen Chinee, was a satire of racial prejudice in northern California, but was embraced by the American public as a mockery of Chinese immigrants, and shaped anti-Chinese sentiment more than any other work at the time.^[3]

• The Beulah song "Ballad of the Lonely Argonaut" references "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "Outcasts of Poker Flat" and asks, "How does it feel to roam this land like Harte and Twain did?"

The Heathen Chinee, originally published as Plain Language from Truthful James, is a narrative poem by American writer Bret Harte. ... Beulah can refer to one of the following places: The Land of Beulah is a location in the Book of Isaiah in The Bible. ...

Legacy

• Bret Harte Middle School in San Jose, California was named after him.
• A community called The Shores of Poker Flat, California claims to have been the location of Poker Flat, although it is usually accepted that the story takes place further north.

Bret Harte Middle School is the name of two middle schools in California, United States: Bret Harte Middle School (San Jose, California) Bret Harte Middle School (Oakland, California) Categories: | ... For other uses, see San José. Nickname: Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ... The Shores of Poker Flat is an unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California. ...

Notes

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ...

References

• Complete bibliography
• Online Bret Harte bibliography
• Bret Harte Etexts
• Works by Bret Harte at Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works. ...

External links

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Bret Harte

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Bret Harte

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Bret Harte

• Historical Deadwood Newspaper accounts of The Bret Harte and Mark Twain Collaboration Co-author play "Ah Sin" 1877, The Main Character and Namesake Ah Sin Comes to Deadwood 1883