When it comes to 19th century authors, critics are sure to discuss a name that brought a new vibe to the local color writing scene. Having amassed a large amount of wealth and signed the largest contract of his time, it can be argued that Bret Harte was the greatest writer of his time. Some would argue that his work was dry, but others would agree that his thought-provoking work truly reflected who he was and where he came from. Bret Harte lived a very interesting life that left a lasting impression on the world of literature (Hively). Francis Bret Harte was born in Albany, New York on August 25, 1836 (Franks). Harte's poor family moved numerous times throughout his life (Franks). After his father's death, Harte and his sisters followed their mother to California (Franks). Over the course of a few years he engaged in school teaching, typesetting, mining, politics, and journalism (Folsom). Around age 16, Henry, Bret's brother who had joined the army, occasionally sent letters filled with stories of his experiences fighting in the Mexican War (Franks). It was during this time that Bret found inspiration to write more poems (Hively). In 1853 his mother moved to Union, California, where she married one of her husband's friends (Hively). In 1857, when he moved to Union, California, Harte began his career in journalism (Franks). He worked for the Union newspaper from 1858 to 1860 (Folsom). He was forced to leave town after an issue of the newspaper in which he published an account of the Mad River Indian Massacre of 1860, the massacre by local whites of all Indians attending a three-day religious festival. In 1878 he was appointed to the United States consular service in Germany (Franks). The rest of his life was spent...half of paper...about or having heard about the Gold Rush (Hall). The sentimental tone of this story is very important as the feeling of excessive emotion is tempered by humor (Morrow). This story was so vivid, even though it was only ten pages, that it made readers feel the presence of the mining camp without being there (Morrow). How a writer could do this in just ten pages was beyond the reach of any critic analyzing the text. After reading this story, you also knew how a forty-nine year old (Schraufnagel) thought and felt. If written later, at worst this story would easily be a Pulitzer Prize winner (Morrow). Harte transformed the West into something that lived well beyond the Gold Rush. It can almost be seen as a kind of heart of Western literary fiction after pumping blood into uncharted territory. Harte's transformation of the West will live on well beyond his lifetime.