The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-04
The VESTS LITERATURE

William r. 'Lighton complains, IN the
Boston Transcript, that the West has no
literature. He admits that many writer's
have Fashioned salable and readable
stuff, out Of odds and ends of raw mate
rial, gathered from the Missouri to the
Pacific but they have not yet touched
the rock quarries| To those who cite
Bret Harte, Mark Twain or Owen Wis
ter, Mr.. Lighton answers that they por-
tray only transient phases of the west.
The real west, the west of the present
and the future, the west that Is to rule
in America, is not yet known to fiction.
The great western novel is yet ito come,
and it will come not from the mountains,
but from the prairies. The author is
nameless yet, but Mr.. Lighton feels that
he lives already, and that his offering
will not long be delayed. -'. ..
Mr.. LEIGHTON has done a service in point
ing out that what has hitherto been ad
vertised to the world of readers as west
ern literature pertains only to a passing
time, and that it in no way touches the
real life of the people. The fact that
Bret Harte lives in England is sufficient
answer to those who claim that his stories
are truly western. Western Americans
care little for them any longer. They
may like to read his old stories, written
at tho moment the particular phase,
whose prophet he was, was the current
life Of the extreme west, but his new
stories on the same old theme, and In
the same old environment, are a trife
tiresome. The fact is, that the writers
ern are doing the west a positive injus-
tice. They think that they must still
give us the hunter, the trapper, the In
dams, the crude miner, the shanty town,
the COW boy, the ready shooter, endless
quantities of "dlalect'' never known in
the west, or anywhere else, much poor
whiskey and unlimited profanity.
We cannot altogether agree with Mr..
Lighton that the coming writer is to deal
only with the country, and pass by the towns
of the west as unworthy of his notice.
The great stretches of the prairies, the
grand panorama of fruitful fields, the
huge task of gathering from them the
the great novelist must know and under
stand their deeper meaning. But there
| is strong bond between this life of the
prairies and the life of the great towns.
| The author may find his character on
the prairies, but the development of
some of the greatest of them must take
/ them to the urban centers, and he must
| there follow their growth in an environ
ment far different from that Of the coun-
try. Yet it will be essentially Of the
prairies, of the soil.
The truly western novel must penetrate
the innermost depths of the strong, sin
cere, faithful, virtuous men and women
who make up the solid foundation of the
potential, throbbing, aspiring west. Agri-
culture lies at the basis of all civilized
life. and 1t is both the foundation and
tho edifce of the civilization of the prai-
ries. In the west, all life is Intimately
associated with agriculture-with the
prairies.
The more we reflect on this intimate re-
lation, the more we see that Mr.. Lighton
west must come from the prairies. But
| the cities are of the prairies, and nc
novel will adequately deal with the true
| western life that does not go into the
cities, and paint the prairie men in
groups, describe the farmers turned
traders and bankers, lawyers and doctors
manufacturers and luxurious consumers