The Old West in the Old World: Lost Plays by Bret Harte and Sam Davis

Introduction

— —฀฀1฀฀— — Introduction Despite฀ the฀ canon฀ reformation฀ of฀ the฀ past฀ generation,฀ our฀ understanding฀ of฀ nineteenth-฀ and฀ early฀ twentieth-century฀ American฀literature฀is฀far฀from฀complete.฀Dramatic฀literature฀from฀ the฀period฀is฀largely฀ignored,฀for฀example,฀and฀the฀literature฀of฀the฀ American฀West฀is฀still฀scanted.฀Henry฀James,฀W.฀D.฀Howells,฀Mark฀ Twain,฀and฀Bret฀Harte฀together฀wrote฀some฀sixty฀plays,฀most฀of฀them฀ long฀ forgotten.฀ Put฀ another฀ way,฀ Harte฀ may฀ be฀ a฀ semi-canonical฀ author,฀but฀he฀is฀known฀for฀only฀a฀fraction฀of฀his฀writings.฀Sam฀Davis฀ is฀almost฀completely฀unknown,฀unjustly฀so฀in฀our฀estimation.฀This฀ edition฀of฀lost฀plays฀by฀both฀western฀authors฀will฀attempt฀to฀redress฀ this฀neglect฀and฀make฀the฀case฀for฀renewed฀attention฀to฀them฀on฀the฀ bases฀of฀literary฀history฀and฀literary฀merit. Surprisingly,฀perhaps,฀the฀trans-Mississippi฀West฀was฀a฀center฀ of฀ theatrical฀ activity฀ from฀ the฀ earliest฀ days฀ of฀ white฀ settlement.฀ Theater฀was฀thriving฀in฀St.฀Louis฀as฀early฀as฀1820,1 ฀and฀once฀gold฀ and฀silver฀were฀discovered฀in฀California฀and฀Nevada,฀even฀before฀ mining฀camps฀metamorphosed฀into฀towns฀and฀cities,฀theater฀was฀ one฀of฀the฀major฀entertainments฀in฀that฀region,฀too.฀Self-respecting฀ small฀communities฀considered฀it฀de฀rigueur฀to฀have—in฀addition฀to฀ schools,฀churches,฀and฀a฀newspaper฀or฀two—at฀least฀one฀opera฀hall.฀ Larger฀communities฀required฀more฀than฀one.฀Virginia฀City฀in฀the฀ 1870s,฀for฀example,฀with฀a฀permanent฀population฀of฀about฀twenty-five฀ thousand฀and฀a฀floating฀population฀of฀another฀five฀to฀ten฀thousand,฀ was฀the฀main฀city฀of฀Nevada’s฀Comstock฀Lode.฀It฀boasted฀a฀theater,฀ two฀opera฀halls,฀several฀music฀halls,฀and฀a฀National฀Guard฀hall.฀For฀ most฀of฀the฀decade฀it฀had฀the฀largest฀population฀of฀any฀American฀ city฀between฀Chicago฀and฀San฀Francisco฀and฀it฀was฀a฀routine฀stop฀ scharnhorst-berkove.indd 1 3/22/06 9:30:23 AM — —฀฀2 / Introduction฀฀— — on฀national฀theatrical฀tours.฀The฀theaters฀usually฀hosted฀a฀lecture,฀ play,฀or฀musical฀performance฀every฀evening,฀plus฀an฀interlude฀or฀ a฀short฀farce,฀olio,฀or฀dramatic฀reading.฀When฀performances฀were฀ particularly฀popular,฀matinees฀were฀scheduled฀on฀weekends.฀Major฀ theatrical฀ troupes฀ and฀ famous฀ personalities฀ from฀ the฀ East—and฀ also฀from฀Europe—regularly฀toured฀California฀and฀the฀Comstock฀ because฀the฀western฀mining฀regions฀paid฀well.฀Drama฀also฀paid฀well,฀ so฀ writers฀ with฀ a฀ national฀ or฀ even฀ international฀ reputation฀ wrote฀ for฀the฀theater฀and฀often฀adapted฀their฀fiction฀to฀it.฀In฀the฀literary฀ market฀of฀the฀Gilded฀Age,฀writing฀a฀successful฀play฀was฀vastly฀more฀ profitable฀than฀selling฀novels฀and฀stories฀to฀the฀magazines.฀As฀Harte฀ once฀explained฀to฀his฀wife,฀“A฀good฀play฀ought฀to฀give฀me฀certainly฀ $3,000฀a฀year฀for฀a฀year฀or฀two.”2 ฀Little฀wonder฀that฀lesser-known฀ authors,฀including฀Sam฀Davis,฀also฀tried฀their฀hands฀at฀playwriting. More฀particularly,฀they฀tried฀their฀hands฀at฀plays฀using฀themes฀ and฀characters฀from฀the฀American฀West.฀These฀were฀undeniably฀ popular฀ topics฀ for฀ the฀ legitimate฀ theater฀ in฀ the฀ late-nineteenth฀ century฀ and฀ most฀ of฀ the฀ best-known฀ playwrights฀ in฀ the฀ country฀ predictably฀tried฀to฀tap฀the฀market.฀Stuart฀Hyde฀estimates฀that฀some฀ 1,200฀plays฀about฀the฀frontier฀were฀written฀between฀1849฀and฀1917.3 ฀ Among฀the฀western฀melodramas฀staged฀in฀New฀York฀and฀Boston฀ during฀the฀period฀were฀James฀J.฀McCloskey’s฀Across฀the฀Continent฀ (1870),฀Augustin฀Daly’s฀Horizon฀(1871),฀Joaquin฀Miller’s฀First฀Families฀ of฀the฀Sierras฀(1875),฀Bartley฀Campbell’s฀My฀Partner฀(1879),฀Augustus฀ Thomas’s฀In฀Mizzoura฀(1893),฀Clyde฀Fitch’s฀The฀Cowboy฀and฀the฀ Lady฀(1899),฀a฀theatrical฀version฀of฀Owen฀Wister’s฀The฀Virginian฀ (1904),฀ David฀ Belasco’s฀ The฀ Girl฀ of฀ the฀ Golden฀ West฀ (1905),฀ and฀ William฀ Vaughn฀ Moody’s฀ The฀ Great฀ Divide฀ (1906).฀ Such฀ plays฀ were฀exciting฀spectacles฀on฀stage,฀featuring฀live฀horses฀and฀frequent฀ gunplay,฀and฀such฀exotic฀types฀as฀redshirt฀miners,฀primitive฀Indians,฀ inscrutable฀Chinese฀laundrymen,฀and฀decayed฀Spanish฀aristocrats.฀ The฀West฀was฀even฀more฀sensationalized฀on฀the฀“illegitimate”฀stage฀ scharnhorst-berkove.indd 2 3/22/06 9:30:24 AM — —฀฀฀Introduction / 3฀฀— — in฀such฀productions฀as฀Frank฀Mayo’s฀Davy฀Crockett฀(1873)฀and฀Ned฀ Buntline’s฀The฀Scouts฀of฀the฀Plains฀(1872),฀which฀featured฀no฀less฀a฀ showman฀than฀Buffalo฀Bill฀Cody.฀Later฀the฀impresario฀of฀his฀Wild฀ West฀show,฀Cody฀performed฀in฀at฀least฀one฀new฀stage฀play฀per฀year฀ between฀1875฀and฀1882.4 Western฀ drama฀ did฀ more฀ than฀ merely฀ exploit฀ interregional฀ differences฀between฀East฀and฀West.฀From฀the฀earliest฀years฀of฀the฀ Republic,฀ American...