The Luck of Roaring Camp

by Bret Harte

"There was commotion in Roaring Camp. It could not have been a fight, for in 1850 that was not novel enough to have called together the entire settlement...”

'The Luck of Roaring Camp' is a short story by Bret Harte, first published in the August 1868 issue of Overland Monthly. It narrates the hard-luck life of a baby boy, Thomas Luck, born an orphan in a gold mining camp in California and raised by a grizzled bunch of hard-hearted miners. This story helped launch Bret Harte's international prominence as a writer, and contains a veritable cornucopia of descriptive words—a great tool for learning and expanding your literary horizons.

Bret Harte (1836–1902), born as Francis Brett Hart in Albany, NY, was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. An avid reader as a boy, Harte published his first work at age 11, a satirical poem titled "Autumn Musings", now lost. Today he is best remembered by his works 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat', 'The Luck of Roaring Camp' (1868), and 'Selected Stories of Bret Harte' (1870).

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Westerns, American, School, 19th Century

28 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2013

About the author

People note American writer Francis Bret Harte for The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches (1870), his best-known collection of his stories about California mining towns.

People best remember this poet for his short-story fiction, featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the Gold Rush. In a career, spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern United States to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but people most often reprinted, adapted, and admired his tales of the Gold Rush.

Parents named him after Francis Brett, his great-grandfather. Bernard Hart, paternal grandfather of Francis and an Orthodox Jewish immigrant, flourished as a merchant and founded the New York stock exchange. Henry, father of the young Francis, changed the spelling of the family name from Hart to Harte. Later, Francis preferred that people know his middle name, which he spelled Bret with only one t.

An avid reader as a boy, Harte at 11 years of age published his first work, a satirical poem, titled "Autumn Musings", now lost. Rather than attracting praise, the poem garnered ridicule from his family. As an adult, he recalled to a friend, "Such a shock was their ridicule to me that I wonder that I ever wrote another line of verse". His formal schooling ended at 13 years of age in 1849.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1868, The Luck of Roaring Camp features a gold mining camp in California. A baby boy is born an orphan, his mother (the only female in the camp) has died in childbirth. No one knows who the father is.
This is a lovely story that transports the reader back in time to the fever of a gold mining camp full of rough tough men, quite unused to looking after a baby. But what transpires is beautiful when the tender side of these men is revealed. Recommended!

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had come across Bret Harte from hearing his short story on OTR (Old Time Radio) & I decided on reading this short story first because it was listed first. I only recently started to read Western stories and have enjoyed the few I have read already. What was strange about this short story is I know I had heard about it before, either from a radio adaption or maybe a TV portrayal with a different ending but I am only guessing here. This story was written in 1868 and has all the feel of the American West during that time. I found it interesting, looking online, that The Roaring Camp was a real gold mining settlement in California, that 49 men lived. Also that Bret Harte himself witnessed California's Great Flood of 1862.
What I like about this story is how a little baby born into The Roaring Camp changed the rough men's lives who they named the baby, Thomas Luck. I will not say more about the story since it is extremely short and it is better not to spoil but one thing which I also read I will mention; the editors did not want the prostitute to be mentioned in the story but luckily to the story it stayed in. If they had removed that part the story would have lost its value and poignancy, IMO.
I read another edition; look under my Bret Harte shelf for collection of his works.

I found several OTR links-

August 29, 1948
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...

January 30, 1954
https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com...

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compelling and sweet short story about an orphan baby raised by men in a wild-west, gold miner town.

[- Jared - ₪ Book Nerd ₪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb story that somehow manages to fuse tragedy and beauty together very well.

Well worth the read if you ever get a chance!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on openlibrary.org.
Sentimental, yes, but more. I'm sure there are literary references & allusions galore.

I can think about a couple. For example, the babe is birthed, baptized, and drowned... all in such a short period of time that it seems like he spent most of his life in water. The miners, as a rule, never bathed... until Stumpy said they had to or else they'd not be permitted to hold the infant Luck.

And that's another example: the prostitute is blamed for her sins, though of course the question was always, how else could a woman make a living in those days in that kind of place? Harte seems sympathetic towards her, despite using words like 'irredeemable' to describe her... and she is the one who brings Luck to these men who choose to lie, steal, fight, and kill... and her babe is the one who 'saves' them.

In any case, the thing that impressed me the most about the story is how concise it is. There are a lot of novels out there that cover the same amount of ground but take 20 times as many pages to do so.

This is short. Read it.

[Shirley (stampartiste) · Rating 5 out of 5]

In just a few short pages, Harte was able to transport the reader to the raw life of a California gold mining camp during the Gold Rush. I love how Harte showed the rough and tender side of the men who suddenly found themselves with the responsibility of caring for a baby. I will be reading more short stories from Bret Harte.

[Ann T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cherokee woman comes into a men's camp in labor with child. Unfortunately she passes during childbirth and the men must decide what to do about the child. It was mentioned the only other female in camp was an ass, literally, that could help to rear the child with the asses milk. All the men agreed. This child brought luck to the camp, so Thomas Luck was the child's name. He was christened and that was the only time God was NOT said in profanity. The Luck's cabin was kept so clean that the other men throughout the camp also cleaned up themselves. If they were to hold The Luck then they had to be clean. The men were not permitted to be loud so conversation was in whisper and profanity was no longer used. The men started to find beauty in wild flowers, the pebbles in the creek, and the many treasures of the woods and hillsides. It was a fairyland.

During the winter, the snow was so deep that every creek became a river and eventually jumped the levees and washed the camp away. The Luck has disappeared. Fortunately a boat has had rescued a man holding the The Luck but both perished.

It still amazes me to this day, how the birth of a child can change the hearts of the roughest men and bring them to their knees to do what is right by a child. I really enjoyed this story, though wish The Luck could have survived.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad but bracing story about life in the wilderness, beautifully written. This is one of his best!

[Tim Pendry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant 1868 piece of American good humour that eventually made the name of Bret Harte outside his own country.

It was initially regarded as problematic morally because of the 'cussing' of the miners and the fact that it is clearly a prostitute who gives the gold miners of Roaring Camp their 'luck', their little orphan mascot.

But, being mid-nineteenth century in a puritan country, it is a moral tale nevertheless. The little orphan adopted by the miners civilises them in a way that expresses all the sentiments of a Californian literary matron and the denouement depends on a Christian belief in everlasting life.

The story was eventually seized upon (but only when the East Coasters agreed that they could do so) as a sign of California's coming-of-age as a literary and artistic community in its own right but, though superbly written, it is ultimately a slight period piece.

It is also (and Mark Twain is part of this peculiar American tradition) an example of didactic humour ... genuinely observant of human foibles, caricaturing them more than a little and then weaving a tale to trigger a sentiment or a thought about right conduct or right thought.

[mora · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love stories that are full of references of nature and the weather, and that are directly affected by them

the men had suddenly awakened to the fact that there were beauty and significance in these trifles, which they had so long trodden carelessly beneath their feet.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 4 out of 5]

After his mother dies in childbirth in a gold-mining camp, the orphaned baby is "adopted" by the camp miners and a resulting civilizing of the camp follows as they seek a better life for the child they name Lucky.

[María · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Harte has a very romantic way of describing endings, I really enjoyed that part, but also the demystification of the hard and rude West villagers, such a good short story.

[Rachel Self]

The Luck of Roaring Camp centers on a gold mining shanty town in California, which is having a large bad luck streak. The men are also engaging in bad behavior until the only woman in town dies in childbirth, leaving behind a baby boy. The town of men rally to raise the boy, calling him Thomas “Luck.” The baby slowly changes their behavior, as the men equally become more responsible. As the men change so does their environment, as plants grow and they aspire to build a hotel. Everything ends when a flood kills Luck, symbolically killing their last bit of hope. The way this baby changes the men wholly reflects a Man vs. Society context, as their entire group changes behavior and perspective with the addition of one child. I am sure middle school students have been told to or directly changed behavior from an influence as well, which turned out for the better. This story’s elements could be discussed in a Man vs. Society context widely, talking about the only woman in camp, the men, or even Luck. Gallagher’s Table Topics strategy would allow students to take on the elements of this story and examine them closely, such as Luck’s effect on the men or real world application to the character’s motivations.

[Kristy Vargo · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the American Lit class I'm taking, we've read through a bunch of stories that piece together a narrative of how Americans perceive God. We started with William Bradford and the good old pilgrims (BTW, the guy said it was divine providence that one of the troublemakers got sick, died, and was thrown overboard while on the Mayflower--yikes) and have ended up reading Bret Harte.

I was not a fan of this story because it went beyond satirizing Christians--it made fun of God. I will be the first one to admit that Christians can be hypocritical--but our Lord is not. At the same time, though, we represent God--we are truly the world's Bible, the salt of the earth, etc. So if people's impressions of God and Christianity are based solely on hypocritical Christians, well...that (and this story) should be a wake-up call for those that call themselves believers.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading a book of short stories and this came up. I had never heard of Harte before. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. All about a mining camp that adopts a baby after the mother dies during childbirth. Not so much for the plotline, but his style of writing and use of big words I haven't heard used in a long time. I love the English language and hearing uncommon words used in a story just tickles me pink. Loved the flavor of the descriptive scenes as well. Really enjoyed this and will probably look Harte up to see what else I can find. Feel free to leave me recommendations in the comments below if you have some favorites.

[Kristína · Rating 3 out of 5]

Táto poviedka mala zaujímavý námet aj veľmi dobré prevedenie, ale až tak ma nebavila.

[Tanyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gay village.

[Cherney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but sad

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that you're amid grandeur -- having your world assumptions upended for good -- when you come across an observation, an insight, as this author's in "The Luck of Roaring Camp": "The assemblage numbered about a hundred men. One or two of these were actual fugitives from justice, some were criminal, and all were reckless. Physically they exhibited no indication of their past lives and character. The greatest scamp had a Raphael face, with a profusion of blonde hair; Oakhurst, a gambler, had the melancholy air and intellectual abstraction of a Hamlet; the coolest and most courageous man was scarcely over five feet in height, with a soft voice and an embarrassed, timid manner...The strongest man had but three fingers on his right hand; the best shot had but one eye."

Previous to finding this short story, in a compact red bound collection by Bret Harte (Francis Brett Harte) on a neighbor's front yard "LittleFreeLibrary.org" bookshelf, I had never heard of this author. Within minutes of reading the first pages, I traveled an immeasurable distance, where the destination was (and is) a new way of seeing and understanding. In short, a world of hopeful possibilities.

May each of us, from birth and throughout life, know the same inviolate love bestowed on the main character, "The Luck" (Tommy (Thomas) Luck), and may this be as regenerative and as transformative to all. This is an absolute gem of a legend, which its author has bequeathed for us to make a reality.

[Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Along the hill-side of some great mountains was the Roaring Camp in the year 1850. The lone woman there, a prostitute, gave birth to a baby boy then she died. The baby was left with the camp's men, about a hundred of them. Coarse, weather-beaten men: gamblers, miners, loggers, fugitives from justice and all.

They named the child "Tommy Luck" or "The Luck" for he seemed to bring good fortune as, indeed, his presence alone profoundly changed them and the camp itself.

The child even changed how they meet Death itself.

[Christina (TinyTinaTales) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Stars

This was amazing. This is a story of discovering what’s worth living for, and how to turn lives around for the sake of another. Honestly, this is one of my favorite things I’ve read in a long time. Even if the end was tragic, it was great to see a bunch of raggedy misfits all come together to take care of an innocent child. I really enjoyed this. It’s a very quick and easy read with interesting characters, setting, and themes. I highly reccommend it to anyone looking to read a good short story.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a GREAT piece of writing that I find to be historically significant while managing to be socially relevant and unproblematic in the present-day. Taking place in a 1800s settlement (near modern-day San Jose), this book explores the true nature of masculinity in a magnificent way that I find to have been profound and timeless.
I would recommend this story to:
-History buffs
-Fans of western literature
-Anyone interested in topics concerning gender/gender roles and social perception of others.

[Britt Halliburton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of this writer or this story before and only downloaded it because of the novelty of the author's name resembling a famous wrestler from my childhood. I was surprised to find a great short story that demonstrates how even the darkest of people can rise above their baseness when subject to empathy and responsibility. Harte has excellent observational skills on the mannerisms and behaviours of an eclectic group of rough and rowdy men and the keen ability to see the inner glow of such people. A sentimental piece of work with some light humour through its early stages.

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've arranged my thoughts into a haiku:

"Paternal instinct
Inspires even the coarsest
To self betterment."

[Glass River]

In 1868, Harte launched as editor and proprietor a new magazine, the Overland Monthly, in which he aimed to publish his Western stories, the first of which was ‘The Luck of Roaring Camp’. The story duly made his name and kicked off a lifelong, bitter rivalry with Mark Twain. The story takes only half an hour to read.
The enduring interest in Harte’s tale lies in its being an antidote to the ‘frontier thesis’ – the sustaining myth of the West that the struggle which life there imposes brings out the true American spirit. For Harte, the ‘West’ (he lived and worked there in its frontier days) is a barbarous, primitive place that humankind must rise above. And, given what humankind is, probably never will rise above. We’re not that lucky.
Roaring Camp comprises a ‘wild bunch’ who have come west to California in 1849 in the hope of striking it rich in the gold fields. They have not struck it rich. The story opens in winter, when prospecting is slack. The tone is laconic:
There was commotion in Roaring Camp. It could not have been a fight, for in 1850 that was not novel enough to have called together the entire settlement. The ditches and claims were not only deserted, but ‘Tuttle’s grocery’ had contributed its gamblers, who, it will be remembered, calmly continued their game the day that French Pete and Kanaka Joe shot each other to death over the bar in the front room. The whole camp was collected before a rude cabin on the outer edge of the clearing. Conversation was carried on in a low tone, but the name of a woman was frequently repeated. It was a name familiar enough in the camp, – ‘Cherokee Sal.’
About five rattling Westerns are contained in that bleak mise en scène. What is it, then, that brings this god-forsaken crew into something temporarily resembling a community? The death of Cherokee Sal, the common-law wife (or, to be more blunt, whore), who services the otherwise all-male camp. Sal is not a doxy any Hollywood agent would let his client play onscreen: ‘She was a coarse and, it is to be feared, a very sinful woman’. She is in the last stage of pregnancy, and dying in the act of giving Roaring Camp a child. (Whose? It could be any one of them.) The surviving infant ‘ain’t bigger nor a derringer’. He is named (no christening is possible in this god-forsaken place) Thomas Luck. It’s a joke. Luck has been in very short supply in Roaring Camp.
Strangely, a child in their midst ‘regenerates’ the camp morally:
Almost imperceptibly a change came over the settlement. The cabin assigned to ‘Tommy Luck’ – or ‘The Luck,’ as he was more frequently called – first showed signs of improvement. It was kept scrupulously clean and whitewashed.
Civilisation has been born with the child. ‘Profanity’ is given up. Gun play too. Sanitation is introduced. A ‘golden summer’ breathes, temporarily, over Roaring Camp. But Harte does not let the reader off with any easy sentimentality. The winter of 1851 is one of the harshest in memory. With the camp nestling under the Sierra Nevada, the springtime melt causes flooding. The gulch becomes a tumultuous, unpredictable flood plain. It is now the water that roars. It is, for the miners, good luck. The streams, eroding the hills and mountains, bring down gold dust in their currents. But a particularly savage flash flood drowns little Thomas Luck. He is too good for the world – at least the world of Roaring Camp.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1850, California Gold Rush in the Sierras. There was one woman in Roaring Camp, and she was a prostitute, an American Indian pregnant by an unknown father. She died in childbirth, but the baby boy survived. The population demographics had changed; there was one less woman and one more baby, now totaling zero and one, respectively. The stats aren’t really important; they underline how primitive life was in Roaring Camp.

The camp denizens debated the issue. Who was going to take care of the baby? What should we name him? Should we ship him off to another camp where are there is some sort of civilization: women, other children, permanent housing, etc.? ‘They’ said he had brought the Camp good luck and decided to name him Luck with Thomas on the frontend just because something was needed. From that point forward, he was mostly referred to as ‘The Luck’. With their positive perceptions and expectations the fortunes of the camp actually did get better, flush, golden times. Snows that winter came early, fell heavily, and stayed late. The snow finally melted, streams roared, overflowed … 4 stars, Bret Harte is an author that reader’s should taste.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set during the fabled gold-rush era of California, this story emphases on a rag-tag group of hard-hearts who are led into a path of refurbishment with the advent of a child in their midst. However their redeeming course is brusquely cut-short as ‘destiny’ decides to step in. The story shows us that human existence is an interminable sequence of cravings and quests, often leading to suffering and everlasting discontent. Man’s relentless yearning for gratification stems from an avid resolve that can never be effusively pleased. Alas, this pursuit proves futile, as the transient nature of life warranties that permanent serenity is but an evanescent artifice. So very poignant the themes and the unforced narrative style is, that the characters and local fragrance described by the author, stays with you for days after you’ve read the story.

Most recommended.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bret Harte wrote short stories for a San Francisco newspaper during the Gold Rush years. These stories were hugely popular. And I have to say that I agree. I thought they were great. Bret had a comical turn to his stories. The characters were described in picturesque detail. You read of rough gold miners, of pretty school teachers, and grizzly mountain men who showed up once in a while. Most of the stories were told in first person.

It wasn't until later, while reflecting on the stories that I had read that I realized that the majority didn't have a happy ending. He wrote these amazing stories and even though things didn't turn out all right for the main character you still enjoyed the story and spent time appreciating the irony instead of feeling sorry for anyone.

[Abby]

I love American literature, so what a tender first assigned read!

What I wrote on it:
Harte in "The Luck of Roaring Camp" cultivates a distinct sense of place that reads both believably and tenderly in a small amount of time. Roaring Camp's customs and propensities are carved into first few lines thoroughly, that the reader already has foundations laid for what they expect from this camp of men. Harte appears to do this with great ease, and this accomplishment is so significant to the story, because Roaring Camp's men experience a transformation so rapidly and deeply, it's like the reader experiences it themselves simultaneously. Beauty becomes richer to the reader, the physical location more alive, all so the ending becomes more personally moving by its quiet devastation. 

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure how to rate this short story at first. But as it stepped into my brain as I realized the depth of it.

The baby born shortly before his mother dies is alone in the world except for a few gruff men. The baby has such a strong influence on the men that they clean up their language, manners, and surroundings.

All is going well until a roaring flood wiped away much of the area, except for one man holding the baby.

It occurred to me that the baby represents Jesus and the common men represent the apostles. It ties into the ending, which I’ve left undisclosed.