| "The Luck of Roaring Camp" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Bret Harte | |
 "The Luck of Roaring Camp" as it appeared in the Overland Monthly | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Western fiction |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Overland Monthly |
| Publication type | Magazine |
| Publisher | Anton Roman |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | August 1868 |
"The Luck of Roaring Camp" is a short story by American author Bret Harte. It was first published in the August 1868 issue of the Overland Monthly and helped push Harte to international prominence.[1]
The story is about the birth of a baby boy in a 19th-century gold prospecting camp. The boy's mother, Cherokee Sal, dies in childbirth, so the men of Roaring Camp must raise the boy themselves. Believing the child to be a good luck charm, the miners christen him Thomas Luck. Afterward, they decide to refine their behavior and refrain from gambling and fighting.
Roaring Camp was a real place. It was a gold mining settlement on the Mokelumne River in Amador County, California. It was home to forty-niners seeking gold in and around the river; it is now a privately owned tourist attraction.[2] The story's flood theme may have been inspired by California's Great Flood of 1862, which Harte witnessed.
- ^ "The Printed Word". Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 12 March 1911. p. 13. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ "The Roaring Camp Mining Co". Retrieved 2016-02-28.