Bret Harte (1836 - 1902)

Bret Harte came to California in 1854 where he worked as a miner, a schoolteacher, an express messenger, a printer, and a journalist. In San Francisco, he wrote for "The Californian" along with Mark Twain.

He was appointed Secretary of the United States Branch Mint in San Francisco and was also the first editor of the "Overland Monthly." His works include: The Luck of Roaring Camp, The Outcasts of Poker Flats, Muck-a-Muck, A Modern Indian Novel, and A Secret of Telegraph Hill.

Portait of Bret Harte by John Pettie (1839-1893); public domain image