Bret Harte
4) Maruja
In the mid-1800s, California was as much Spanish as it was American, and competing claims over the land grants that had been issued by the Spanish government created a major controversy in the territory. That's the backdrop of this short novel from Bret Harte, which centers on the enchanting Maruja Saltonstall, who is torn between multiple suitors.
5) Devil's Ford
Cultures collide in the novella Devil's Ford from Bret Harte. City-bred and professionally trained engineer Philip Carr decides to seek his fortune in the mountains and moves himself and his grown daughters to the Devil's Ford mining camp, where he pits his advanced techniques against local practices—and where his daughters cause a commotion among the camp's denizens, including beloved recurring character Whiskey Dick.
Capitalizing on Bret Harte's skyrocketing literary fame, this novel of 1850s California received the largest payment ever made for a single work of fiction up to that time. A dramatic story of a party of pioneers trapped in inclement weather in the California Sierras, Gabriel Conroy will leave you on the edge of your seat.
What starts out as a tale of peaceful domesticity takes a sudden turn when the protagonists are lured from Connecticut to California by the promise of striking it rich. This novella from American author Bret Harte is an engaging, easy read that will please fans of historical fiction or tales of the Old West.
Everyone's favorite bloviating attorney makes a triumphant return to the law profession in the title story of this charming collection from Bret Harte. Colonel Starbottle takes on a client named Jo Corbin, who has committed a grievous crime and works out a convoluted plan of repentance.
Fans of high-quality Western tales will cherish this collection from the renowned chronicler of California's misfits, outcasts, and rebels. Several of the stories collected resurrect some of Harte's most popular characters; widely reviled blowhard Colonel Starbottle is featured in "What Happened at the Fonda," and grizzled stage driver Yuba Bill shows up in "A Niece of Snapshot Harry's."
This diverse collection brings together a number of the stories of American author Bret Harte, one of the foremost chroniclers of life in territorial California. The novella "The Bell-Ringer of Angel's" focuses on a doomed marriage and features a number of Harte's beloved recurring characters, while the short story "Chu Chu" recounts a standoff between a man and a hard-to-tame horse.