Fork of the American River, Coloma. The Bend in the River Is the
Precise Spot Where Gold Was First Discovered in California

Ben Taylor and His Home, Grass Valley, Showing the Spruce He Planted
Nearly Half a Century Ago

E. W. Maslin in the Garden of His Alameda Home

Angel's Hotel, Angel's Camp, Erected in 1852, as was the Wells Fargo
Building Which Faces it Across the Street

Main Hoist of the Utica Mine, Angel's Camp, Situated on the Summit of a
Hill Overlooking the Town

The Stanislaus River, Near Tuttletown, "Running in a Deep and Splendid
Canon"

Jackass Hill, Tuttletown. The Road to the Left Leads to the Former Home
of "Jim" Gillis

Home of Mrs. Swerer, Tuttletown. The Hotel and This Dwelling Comprise
All That Is Habitable of the Tuttletown of Bret Harte

Main Street, Sonora, "So Shaded by Trees That Buildings Are Half-hidden"

Sonora, Looking Southeast. "No Matter From What Direction You Approach
It, Sonora Seems to Lie Basking in the Sun"

Main Street, San Andreas, "During the Mid-day Heat, Almost Deserted"

Metropolitan Hotel, San Andreas; in the Bar-room of Which Occurred the
"Jumping Frog" Incident

Mokelumne Hotel, on the Summit of Mokelumne Hill, and at the Head of the
Famous Chili Gulch

Placerville, the County Seat of El Dorado County, From the Road to
Diamond Springs

The Cary House, Placerville. "It Was Here That Horace Greeley Terminated
His Celebrated Stage Ride With Hank Monk"

Middle Fork of the American River, Near Auburn, and Half a Mile Above
Its Junction With the North Fork

An Apple Orchard, Grass Valley, "The Trees Growing in the Grass, as in
England and the Atlantic States"

The Western Hotel, Grass Valley. "The Well and Pump Add a Quaint and
Characteristic Touch"

A Bit of Picturesque Nevada City, Embracing the Homes of Its Leading
Citizens

Foreword

In California's imaginary Hall of Fame, Bret Harte must be accorded
a prominent, if not first place. His short stories and dialect poems
published fifty years ago made California well known the world over
and gave it a romantic interest conceded no other community. He saw the
picturesque and he made the world see it. His power is unaccountable if
we deny him genius. He was essentially an artist. His imagination gave
him vision, a new life in beautiful setting supplied colors and rare
literary skill painted the picture.

His capacity for abso