Bret Harte

Bret Harte, born Francis Brett Hart, was an American short story writer and poet. He is best remembered for stories about miners, gamblers and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush, such as The Outcasts of Poker Flat and The Luck of Roaring Camp. In a career of more than four decades he also wrote poetry, plays, lectures, book reviews and editorials. He later moved from California to the eastern United States and then to Europe.