Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-10-28
.BRHAAFli

(BRHAAHlE ly . a n ae sr' T fss
keen ionse u humor jJined 70 manly ten
derness ofhetrt, which is go character.
istic CT seni- pioneer civilization Of the
west srd far west, found in him its first
and truegt exponent. he had no prcGe-
cessor IL genre fiction. Bret Harte wrote
"M'uss aud "Tae Luck OF Roaring
CAmpn before Eggleston had rndertaken
TO represent dclon phases Of pioneer life
among the e ,osIers of Indiana and the
prairie farmers Of Illinois in
''The Eoosier Schooimaster" and
"The Circuit Rider" bafore Mis-
Woolsou had given Us those faely
ske;ched pictures of he Canadian FfeLch
Of the Upper Likes, before Cable found
in the Louisiana creoles mine Of freah
msterisl for f;tion, before Harrl6 snd
Miss MGrtree discovered the modatsin-
eersof Tennessee.
Bret Hsrte's early life gave him the
best OF training for literary pioneer.
Born in 1889 IN Albany, where his father
YVES a teacher IN . femsle seminary, he
gained good curnmon school education.
After his tsthel's death, the family were
left iG rather poor circumstances, and IN
1854 young Harte accompanied his mother
prove the family fortunes. They wen. by
wcy Of Psnams. Soon sfter arriving at
ssh Ffarcisc0 he set out for Slnorr,
piuckIiy Walking sll the w.y. Thare he
Iaught school foy' a lime, but without
grses success snd he soon gave 1t up
Then followed several years Of wan deIipg
lie amopg the mountains and mining
CAMPS Ct Caltornla. BE tried mining ct
various Intervals; he was mounted tx
pTess egent for @ time, and it IVES then
thst ne becsme scqusinteG with the pro-
totFpes Ct Yabs Bill and other knights of
the lash; he scted IS express agent in
several different mining camps. Il was
thus he bscams intimately acquainted
with the peculiar rude phases Ut early
Californis life; in these wanderipge he
wss uncoesciousiy filing his menssl note
book with sketches Of John Oikhurst,
Tennessee Higglee, Tommy SimpkiIs, all
those men and women, the stories Of
whose lives and deeds have stirred Ia 20
laughter or to tears. The conditions of life
in inoee early days were singulSIIy pictur-
esGue. A rude mining camp SET 90 IN
sm3lg unsurpassed splendoE of the CO.'S.
mountains, wss crowded with men OF
daring and sturdy Independence, smooth
tcngaed gambler, and fugi!iyes from
eastern jGs.tce. Gold was plentiful, and
life was full - touch sndgo excitement
In his lecture Oh "The Argonzuts OF 49,"
which has believe never been printed.
ne gave me incidents CT their strange
lswiess life. Il one place, touching upon
the scarcity OF temsles and juvenile So
ciofy. he Ieiis th.t on one occasion when q
baby cried, the groups of rough
mep, g2thtred about il in open
moutheu curiosity, shou!sd Sen
core" Af.er r'gle OF shou.irg
and bloodshed, the bartender of the
new saloon, where the levee took place,
remarked that "the boys seemed TO be
really getting scq1sinted with esch-
other" ZEN WAC lost $1,000 ct 6
gambling table n ten Iuialtes, oroga with
the exclamation: $50 thlnk there is
folks who believe keerds waste OF
timei"
Among his other occupations during
these wEpdeJj Iare, WAS thu. CT comYas
tor. he learned to SGT type snd worked
On little newspaper &C Eureka. Il was
st thie time, 80 r1e story re as, tAst ne
heg,n MS literary career oy putting SONS
N6rie sketches OF his own into typo, and
printing them in ina pspeE. wl:hou. con-
suiting the editor. They seem, however,
20 have made IN impression upon his
chief, far We lenro that later during the
sbgencs OF the editor, Hsrts wss lsst in
charge Of the p2peF and brought down
upon himself the wrsta of the community
5Y condemning pleasant little massacre
Of sevaral indians, conducted by leading
citizens Of the town. =.
In 1857 he driited back to y r,e Bay, as
the miners called San Francisco, and
went ID work az compository Gpoa the
Golden En-. Some bis Of his;owl wit.
Ing creps into the j2ufnSl and were no
tic3d oY the editor, WAC encouraged him
TO go On. He gave up tYpe.seE.!ng for
editorial end gsnersl journalistic work,
nnd soon after wrote a]series o: San
francisco sketches that give esiG euce OF
In original and Charming fancy ard hu
MOI, SDd won fcrhim considerable local
reputation. For several years be wrote s
gre2. deal, both in syOse snG verse, for
the daily Papers, and hald positions a
one time or another uGtier the Surveyor
General and the Uaited, States MArshSl.
Sometime early IN the sixties Harie be-
csms Interested il the Californian, Sd
unsuccessful venture, In which were pub
lished The sC0adea5ea}N ovels,"-Ss ssyies
OF clever psrodies On fopulsr poVel.ssa of
the dsy. And It was sbous this time tast
he 6egan "rne Story Of M'liss," his first
attempt IN the fed, In which he efGer-
ward Inace Lis gres: SUCCESS. ihis story
ran as serial in the psges Of the Golden
EEa.
Among the Ultimate and helpf ends
CT this period If 37et Hsrse's we're
Thomas S.srr King, who had re to
San Francisco il 1860 to tske charge of 9
Uaitarikn congregation, aud Jessie Ben
ton Fremont, the vita of General Ere
mont, snd porhspe the most prominent
and iSfnsHtlsl wongsl, then residing IN
Chljtosnis Noah Brooks ssys, that IN
1864, wasn Ia friend ffen .Ahs eGs: WAS
visiting tces;9pted psseheg,4 K!ng re-
msrked: ST ysntyouto neeI.a youpg
man, who will be sessfd CT far esd wide
enc 0: these DAYS end took him iato she
1fice CO the newly appointed secretary Of
the niZt AID INTRODUCED him &c BIst
Gsrte.
That young Harte returned this a,ec-
tionate admiration is shown by the lines,
"On q Pen Of Thomas S.sIr K,ng," 8
beautiful and tender tribute, and ere. |
lieving Guafdn ('sT. S. K. O5iit, Msrca 4,
1892, perhaps e tr.ns crude IN execu-
ticn, cut touching and finely suggestive.
1t wss through the encouragement. and |
Recommendation Of Mrs. Fremont that be
made his first appearance IN en- eastern
magazine, by the publication CT THE |