The Winning of Barbara Worth

by Harold Bell Wright

In the middle of the eastern plains of Colorado, a group of five weary travelers finds a little girl who calls herself "Barba" near her dead mother. The fates of Barbara and the plains are inexorably linked, and, in the years that follow, they profoundly alter the destinies of all of the men in their lives.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Westerns, Romance, Christian Fiction, Adventure

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Harold Bell Wright was a best selling American author of the first part of the 20th century.

Between 1903 and 1942, this minister-turned-author wrote nineteen books, several scripts for stage plays, and several magazine articles. At least fifteen movies were made from his novels. Seven of Wright's books appeared on the top ten best sellers lists, two of them twice, including a number one seller in 1914, a number two in 1916 and a third best seller three times.

He's best known for his work entitled The Shepherd of the Hills which was made into the well known, outdoor play, of the same name, performed in Branson, Mo.

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not a book that I would've read under normal circumstances. The cover was cold and uninviting and the story was not one of typical interest. A few months after my mother passed away this book was found among her possessions and I learned that it had been my grandfather's favorite book, so much so that he had named his daughter, my mother, after Barbara. Once I knew this I was compelled to read it because it was a part of my heritage.

So the story itself was actually quite intriguing after the first chapter or two. I am amazed when I stumble upon such in-depth writing and imagination in books of this time period, the authors long dead. Written in 1911, it's a very strong read for its time as we learn of the reclamation of the desert, financiers, big- business minds, the savvy and the conniving. The plot twist at the end I was not expecting but tied everything together from the beginning. I was also surprised to learn that it was made into a silent film in 1926; Gary Cooper having a lead role and character actor Charles Lane as Jefferson Worth. Oh, the history of such things that we do not know.

[Lanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three men and a boy are headed from the port city of San Felipe, California to Rubio City, a frontier town along the Colorado River, where "there is only a rude trail - two hundred and more hard and lonely miles of it - the only mark of man in all that desolate waste and itself marked every mile by the graves of men and the bleached bones of their cattle."

I really like how one of those men describe the desert where Rubio City is located. "A thousan' square miles av ut wouldn't feed a jack-rabbit. "Tis the blisterin', sizzlin' wilderness av sand an' cactus, fit for nothin' but thim side-winders, horn'-toads, heely-monsters an' all their poisonous relations..."

Along their way to Rubio City the travelers find a horse on its last legs. They follow its tracks to a wagon with no one nearby. They see more tracks, but these tracks are made by small feet, possibly a woman. They follow those until they find a dead woman, with a four-year-old girl at her side. The girl says her name is 'Barba'.

This is a fantastic book. Every once in a while, the author would insert wonderful poetical segments. My favorite is when the author describes the monsoon season of this area:

"...the spirit of the Desert issued its silent challenge. It was not the majestic challenge of the mountains with their unsealed heights of peak and dome and impassable barriers of rugged crag and sheer cliff. It was not the glad challenge of the untamed wilderness with its myriad formed life of tree and plant and glen and stream. It was not the noble challenge of the wide-sweeping, pathless plains; nor the wild challenge of the restless, storm-driven sea. It was the silent, sinister, menacing threat of a desolation that had conquered by cruel waiting and that lay in wait still to conquer."

Amazon reports that its ebook edition is 329 pages. Most printed books are over 500 pages. Also, more than 15 movies were made or claimed to be made from Wright's stories, including Gary Cooper's first major movie, The Winning of Barbara Worth.

[L.]

The title will fool you. You will automatically expect that said Barbara Worth would play a prominent role in the story. Yet in fact she is nothing but a supporting character. If anything the title should be The Winning of Jefferson Worth. Jefferson, Barbara's adoptive father, is the character followed the most.
Also, by the "Winning" in the title you may be tricked into believing this is a romance for someone to "win" her heart. Somewhere, waaaaaay back in the back, there might be a romance going on. It only takes the last few chapters for it to occur and reach a conclusion. The rest of the story concerns Jefferson and his cohorts' efforts to reclaims the desert of King's Basin and turn it into productive fields.
The story begins with Jefferson and a few of his men out in the desert where they come upon the tragic remains of naive pioneers who have died from thirst while trying to unsuccessfully cross the land. The lone survivor is the baby girl, Barbara. Years later the required greenhorn and Babs' love interest, Willard Holmes, arrives from New York. He's an employee of The Company (i.e. The Evil Empire) and they plan to dig canals and reclaim the desert. The boss is Mr. Greenfield. You automatically know he's the bad guy because a) he's from the North, and b) he represents Big Business, which we all know is Evil. A great portion of the novel follows the machinations of Greenfield as he tried to one-up the little man Worth, the good guy who's in it for the greater good of mankind. Of course Jefferson and his loyal band of brothers always come out on top, sometimes by the skins of their teeth. In the end there's a plot twist about Barbara's parentage that I won't reveal but it's not that hard to figure out.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting but not deep novel about the claiming of the Imperial Valley for agriculture. The story contrasts the actions of those interested in making money with those interested in improving the lives of those around them.

[Dad · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy was printed in 1911 and is part of my small collection of turn of the century westerns. Harold Bell Wright also wrote The Shepard of the Hills, which I really enjoyed a couple of times and have seen the John Wayne, Harey Carey movie a couple of times. This tracks a young woman through the greening of the San Jaquinn valley in California, where they were able to run the Colorado through and make it one of the greenest farm valley's in the country. High Finance and Great Men manuever for Capital and the Good of the Country. All the while a love story is growing. The old western stories have the good guy win the girl and the bad guy get his comupance.

[J. Bryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too bad Wright wasn't very good with emotions - the ending really needed a great and satisfying pay-off, and it wasn't there.

I'm guessing he (and every other late Victorian writer in English) was heavily influenced by Dickens, but without the Dickensian humor - its lack is a a major missing ingredient. But I still recommend this, as a curio if nothing else! Would love to read other modern readers' opinions.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic of last of Old West with morality tale of Good Business, East vs. West America and love story written in 1911. Took me a couple chapters to get involved, then pages flew by.

[Angie Fehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow going in parts but theres a good story here if you're patient. The title is misleading because the story of Barbara and the "winning" of her kind of takes a backseat to what is actually the main story, which is the civilization or "reclamation" of the deserts of the southwest (ie. how the pioneers in the area developed waterways and irrigation along with the development of the towns). The characters are interesting but some of the stuff about the actual development of the the canals gets to be dry reading at times. Still, a good tale if you like "How the West Was Won" kind of tales. Just don't expect too much heartpounding nonstop action cause this one is pretty slow paced through most of the pages.

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Western story of capitalist adventure and innocent romance cleverly intwined, I really fell in love with this book as I began to read. The characters proved to be endearing to the uttermost (I'm not a huge fan of westerns, so this was a pleasant surprise to me). I especially loved the high ideals of womanhood and manhood, and any story in which good triumphs over evil and love over hate nearly always wins its way to my heart if it is written at all decently. :) Harold Bell Wright is a wonderful author; this was my first real introduction to his writing, and I must say that I am glad we have met!

[Marci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have read this book decades ago and had forgotten it; when I was editing my grandmother´s letters and diaries, I found that she and her friends exchanged Harold Bell Wright titles regularly from before 1910 through 1920. They couldn't get enough of his books, especially those set in the west. This one is fun for its history of California's Imperial Valley, the northern end of it anyway. The romance is entirely predictable if unfair, but if you read Harold Bell Wright, you know there has to be a guy who loses out--only the loser is usually a loser! Here, he isn't.

[Mandi]

I am abandoning this one ... just could not get into it ... I really love other works by this author, but this one just never grabbed me enough to keep me going. I am sad because I really wanted to love it since my grandma read and loved it so much as a young woman. Maybe someday I will give it another go.

[Jim Lander · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book. So good, if fact, that I continually wondered why this story had not become a movie. It has all the drama, suspense and romance needed for a film. I read one review which said the plot was too predictable. It might have been, but there remained enough to keep me wanting to turn the pages on and on. The last night of reading I stayed up late finishing the book.

[Micheal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have a 1911 copy in my bookshelves from my Grandmother. Not best thing I've ever read, but interesting look at writing style from the period. Found characters and subject concerns surrounding land reclamation and economy at the turn of the century not so different from current day.

[Mary Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written in 1911, and therefore was a tough book to get through. It tells the story of the reclaiming of the desert that became the Imperial Valley, so once I got into it, I wanted to keep reading.

[James Soderberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be clear, the cover on the book I read was much manlier than the one displayed here.

This was a good book. I consider Shepherd of the Hills to be among my favorite books of all time, so the bar is pretty high for any of Harold Bell Wright's other books. As a result I was slightly underwhelmed, but at the same time I enjoyed the read immensely.

The plot is very simple, and the most of the book surrounds describing the attempt to irrigate the California, and the intricate conflicts that happen throughout that endeavor. In a way it feels that the romance and people centric plot was deferred here in exchange for a story of man vs nature that had a clear motive in celebrating the brave men who tamed the desert.

Another element that made this book unique was the rivalry. Normally a romantic rivalry involves a clear winner, but in this story it was two brave men of honor with their own admirable qualities. The ending was what I had hoped it would be, but frankly I can imagine another reader feeling the opposite way. I thought this was a brave choice for the author to make, and respected the decision as it felt more original with that element.

Overall, a good book that I would recommend to anyone who likes Harold Bell Wright, but it would not be the first book of his that I would recommend.

[Mazzou B · Rating 2 out of 5]

a disappointment after reading Shepherd of the Hills! this one is not as interesting and very long and detailed!

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Visiting the Imperial Valley was a yearly occurrence as a child and the place holds a special place in my heart. Wright's book isn't so much a romance, but about the colonization and settlement of the West. It is ultimately about about the use of capital in a semi-humane way with a romanticized view of womanhood sewn in throughout.
I recommend reading in big gulps as just a few pages here and there just doesn't do the story justice.

[CëRïSë · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself strangely obsessed with this book, and talking about it to anyone who would listen—to locals, especially, who are familiar with the name, if not the character, as the local country club and several streets here in the Imperial Valley are named for Barbara Worth. The familiarity with the name does not appear to extend beyond the Valley (other southern Californians, even from our neighboring, Coachella, valley, belied no trace of recognition), although the themes of "reclaiming" the desert using Colorado River water, and the formation of the Salton Sea, certainly do.

At 110 years old, this book is—probably predictably—rather racist and misogynistic, even though the author (a pastor) almost certainly considered his portrayal of the non-white, non-male characters rather sympathetic and even evolved. It's also melodramatic and contrived, but a surprising page-turner. My favorite part was definitely the local history and the way it made the early 20th century Valley come alive as I tried to track which fictional elements were historically accurate and which made-up names referred to real places (Frontera =? Calexio? San Felipe =? San Diego?). As soon as the Pioneers' Park Museum reopens in September, I plan to visit and hopefully get some answers—and in the meantime, may check out the film adaptation (the first role for Gary Cooper)!

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who has vacationed in Branson, MO is familiar with Harold Bell Wright's The Shepherd of the Hills. I got to wondering what else he had written and was surprised to find out that he was once one of the most popular American writers in the 20th Century. So I decided to try him out. The Winning of Barbara Worth is often considered his masterpiece and rightly so.

The plot revolves around the reclamation of the southern end of California's Imperial Valley and many see it as contest between two young men, one an Eastern engineer and the other a self taught mechanic, for the affections of Barbara Worth, the daughter of a local banker. However, the person most in need of winning her over is her adoptive father, Jefferson Worth. The reclamation of the valley becomes an allegory for the reclamation of Jefferson Worth's heart and spirit, the "winning" of his daughter and her own change in views of his past behaviors and actions. She comes to see that his "cold-hearted" business attitude is his way of taking care of and addressing the needs of the people of her desert.

This is a completely enjoyable book and a vast improvement of his better known work, The Shepherd of the Hills. In addition, as an engineer, I have to admit I enjoyed reading a novel where engineers are the hero/love interest.

[Devonne West · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have most of Harold Bell Wright's books, this book was not at the top of the list to read. I just wasn't interested in reading a romance novel; however, the book moved up that list when it was mentioned in The Grapes of Wrath, a book that I was reading at that time.
Early in the book I soon discover that it isn't THAT kind of romance. The story is about an orphaned little girl found in the desert beside her dead mother by a group of men. From the very beginning, the little girl seems frightened of the man that will become known as her 'father.' This man longs for her to love him like she loves the other men of that group - one loved like an 'uncle'; another, a 'brother.' What must Jonathan Worth do to be accepted as a father by her?! Why is it so difficult to win HER love? Everyone else sees Jonathan Worth as man of the West, a success-driven entrepreneur, a pillar of the western community in which they live. He is loved by all...except the little girl Barbara.
Is he really the kind of man that the girl thinks him to be? What must he do to win her love?

[CynthyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Powerful and relevant for our day even though it was based on events of the early 20th Century. Wright wove a fascinating, gripping fictional tale of men and women who tamed the American West, the Colorado River, and the vast, forbidding desert of what is now Imperial Valley. Strong characters are brilliantly developed and perfectly intertwine with their story of friendship, grit, determination, and love.

I found an old hardbound copy, long forgotten, that was given to my grandmother by my grandfather in 1917. I thought I would read it to see what my grandparents thought worthy of a gift. The Winning of Barbara Worth was more than worthy of the designation "a good read."

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be mildly interesting, but overly dramatic and had a somewhat predictable plot.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review at my blog.

[wanderer · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite by Harold Bell Wright. Always has been.

[Trish Boese · Rating 3 out of 5]

3* I should read it again and maybe I'd understand it better.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story - kept me guessing till the end.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written in a time when innovation and cultivation were celebrated and admired. I loved the story and the writing style.

[Eric Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in a middle of nowhere farming town, you read about the rest of the world as though it were a different planet, a wholly different plane of reality. Even if a book were set in a rustbelt town with nothing worth sticking around for, the fact that it was someplace else made it feel fantastical and exotic. I was startled by the interesting experience reading a novel set in my nowhere farming region treating it as a place of great promise, great struggle, and significance. It was also an eye-opening glimpse into the forces both human and natural that shaped, literally and figuratively, the humble Imperial Valley.

'The Winning of Barbara Worth' is a western romance that plays heavily off of both genres as though it were one. Set in a fictionalized version of the Imperial Valley of California, 'King's Basin' (Not to be confused with the REAL King's Basin in the San Joaquin Valley) or 'La Palma de los mano los Dios' as it is known by the local bands of Indians and Mexicans, the story follows the fate and fortunes of a 'found family' of sorts. The titular Barbara, or 'Barba' as she cries when first discovered, is orphaned by the desert, the body of her mother the only evidence of the vanished, doomed pioneer band that was her family. The group of men who found her consist of the self-made financier and adoptive father Jefferson Worth, the old hand 'Tex' who knows the desert as a sailor the sea, the rough and tumble man of quick temper and balled fists Pat, the visionary engineer known as 'Seer' and his apprentice, another orphan of the west, Abe Lee.
Following the wishes of his late wife, and his own want of love and family, Jefferson Worth builds a life for Barbara, and a reputable mini-empire, in the threadbare region of 'King's Basin', a dry backwater only recently beginning to be truly settled and exploited. The forces of capital, of men's ambitions, the desire to conquer, and unknowable nature, clash in their own ways. Barbara grows into a caring and beautiful young woman, beloved by the community for her generosity and kindness. Her love for her desert, a possessive affection she extends to any and all who dwell in it, extends to her hope for its future, a dream of a bountiful and prosperous land where now shifting sands lay. Nearly every man encountered in the novel vies in their own ways, from platonic to romantic, for her affection, each touched and changed in some way by Barbara's character and her desert.

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. I wouldn't use the word 'dated' though I'm sure there's material in it that may be objectionable to modern sensibilities. I will say, though, that the only reason it didn't get a perfect score is because it does have some shortfalls that affect writers old and contemporary. I tried not to judge it by my tastes and habits as a modern reader, and was largely successful, but I found the ending of the novel, though not wholly out of character for the whole text, did leave me dissatisfied. It wrapped everything up in a nice bow, and some might find cliches in the seams of the bow, but really the last page of the novel kind of spoils all the goodwill it built up. I'll leave you to read it and understand what I mean.

There are a lot of conventions in the novel that I'm sure people would view as tropey, and, as my research showed, so did some people of the era. But, as I understood the novel, as a Western and a Romance, these little tells that I could spot were forgivable for the sake of the genre.

The prose is very effective. Wright is a strong writer though given to some syrupy and grandiose language when relating to things in broad strokes, the bird's eye view of time and people, as it were. Even then, this same language was so evocative when turned to nature, to the sands, the desert brush, the stones, the sunset beyond the mountains, the bursting waters of the Colorado, the dusty streets of frontier towns and settler's tents. Given the history and life of Mr. Wright, every single word felt alive, felt lived in, as though the author, and we the reader, could feel the leather of the saddle, the blistering heat of midday, the delicious coolness of spring water on parched lips. I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Wright's writing style and ability.

A historical novel, taking liberties and inventing placenames for the sake of the narrative, I'm surprised how much I learned about the region I'd grown up in. The formation of the Salton Sea was, in my mind, as ancient as the carving of the Grand Canyon. The curiosity aroused in me by the book led me to find photos of men in bowler hats carrying shovels as they waded through ankle-deep water, a stark, black steam engine following behind loaded with earth and stone to help stem the tide of the mighty flood. 1905, while decidedly far in history to me here now in the year 2025 is much more relatable and accessible than say ancient Rome or the Renaissance. The distance of time is enough to turn a place I grew up in a virginal and alien land with plenty of secrets and history to uncover.

I loved this book and highly recommend it.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting novel published in 1911 about the reclamation of the desert known as La Palma de la Mano de Dios (The Hollow of God's Hand). On their way home across the desert from San Felipe to Rubio City, four men and a boy after a sandstorm come across a wagon partly in sand. After not being able to find anyone, they go on. Near a dry water hole they find the body of a woman and hear the cries of a little girl, calling herself "Barba." Jefferson Worth, prosperous banker, takes her home to his wife; the driver, Texas Joe, the big Irishman, Pat, and the civil engineer who they call the Seer become Barbara's "uncles" and the boy, Abe Lee, her "brother". The book then skips ahead fifteen years. The Seer has convinced some investors from the east to start work on the reclamation of the desert so it can be turned into productive land. A young engineer from New York, Willard Holmes, comes to head the work. Thus begins the competition between James Greenfield of the King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company and Jefferson Worth.

[Brenda Oberholtzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! The characterization of his characters…so well done!!! It is a story of how Capital works in Good Business. Never blaming and not excusing the author shows how it works and what it does to the characters of men. However, he contrasts his tale of capital and how it works with the characters of men who fought its grip for something higher, something deeper, something more meaningful. And he shows how they won! Not only did they reclaim the King’s Basin Desert but they also found what truly mattered in life—their souls and characters forever changed!

I find the title rather misleading. The story is less about Barbara and more about the men she loved best—how they fought and conquered the forces that would have destroyed them. And yet, she was the reason they fought so hard… It is not a story of a romance but a story of love and of character. A story of how that character is formed within a man.