commercial agent in Germany and then as a U.S.
After losing his writing contract because of his poor output, Harte worked as a U.S. However, Harte’s fame soon became debilitating, and he found it extremely difficult to come up with new content. After landing a lucrative contract with The Atlantic Monthly, Harte moved to the East Coast and was immediately welcomed into the literary scenes of Boston and New York. It was in this magazine that Harte published “The Luck of Roaring Camp” and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” two of his best-known short stories. In 1868, he was appointed editor of a new regional magazine called The Overland Monthly. After working in the printing business for a time, he turned to writing. He eventually moved to California, where he worked his way through a series of unrelated and odd jobs, including a gold prospector, drugstore clerk, schoolteacher, and stagecoach guard.
By age 13, he was working full-time to support his family and was no longer attending school. Bret Harte was born in Albany, New York in 1836.
