518 Harte, Bret
Several months after the birth of the child a
great flood washes Roaring Camp away, sending
buildings and the camp’s inhabitants into the river.
Stumpy is the first known victim of the flood as his
body is found washed on the shore. “The Luck” is
found, barely alive, as is Kentuck. The story con-
cludes with Kentuck and “The Luck” being washed
into the river to meet their deaths.
Andrew Andermatt
community in “The Luck of Roaring Camp”
Bret Harte’s short story, “The Luck of Roaring
Camp” (1868), depicts a fictional western com-
munity in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains
of California. Roaring Camp is a small, male-
dominated community that seems, on the surface, to
reject civilized behavior in favor of a rugged, violent
society. The community that makes up this fictional
setting is best analyzed through a reading of the
camp’s gender, sense of identity, and the way these
elements, in conjunction with the characters’ actions,
lead to the overall changing of the community in
which they find themselves.
Early in the story Harte gives his readers a
glimpse at the community life that exists within the
boundaries of Roaring Camp. First, we see the resi-
dents of Roaring Camp congregated at a cabin in the
clearing where “Cherokee Sal,” the only female in
Roaring Camp, is ready to deliver a baby. With this
detail, the reader assumes the “novelty” of the event
that is ready to commence. While residents of the
camp are regularly exposed to violence and death, a
birth is fairly unknown. Here, Harte begins to paint
this community as a stereotypical, anti-female, male
entity. Roaring Camp itself is referred to as a male-
gendered individual, rather than a group of people.
After the residents elect one of their own residents,
Stumpy, to help deliver the baby, the narrator states
that “Roaring Camp sat down outside, smoked its
pipe, and awaited the issue.”
What continues to develop this community’s
stereotypical “maleness” is the camp’s strict opposi-
tion to female inclusion, as illustrated by Harte’s
decision to “kill off ” Cherokee Sal shortly after the
delivery of her baby. Once “Tom Luck” or “The
Luck” is born and in the care of the male camp, the
narrator states that “The introduction of a female
nurse in the camp also met with objection,” and that
the camp “didn’t want any more of the other kind,”
a clear reference to the community’s view of male
superiority and female subordination.
To be fair to the residents of Roaring Camp, it
is important to consider that the narrator makes a
point of telling readers that the camp, in general,
“looks suspiciously on all strangers,” which suggests
that while the members of the camp may not wel-
come women, they equally shut out anyone who is
not part of their community. “They’re mighty rough
on strangers,” the narrator asserts while reminding
readers that encouragement to immigration of any
kind was not given.
Another characteristic of the inhabitants’ iden-
tity that leads to their overall sense of community is
the descriptions of the men themselves. The narra-
tor tells us that some of the men gathered around are
fugitives from justice, criminals, and reckless indi-
viduals. Even though the term “roughs” is applied
to them, the narrator makes a point to let us know
that the term is one of “distinction” rather than
definition, as the men hardly look the part of their
reputation, with their soft voices, diminutive stature,
and “Hamlet-like” appearance. The barbaric picture
painted of these characters is more or less the way
these characters want their community to be viewed
rather than what really is the case.
Harte continues to explore this true identity of
the community within Roaring Camp by showing
how the arrival of “The Luck” brings out the sensi-
tivity of the men. The mere gathering around Cher-
okee Sal invokes a “maternal” instinct within the
men, who are anxious to see the orphan and bring
gifts to the baby. Moreover, the men are enthusiastic
about keeping the baby and raising it themselves
and, with the baby’s safety at heart, are concerned
about what may happen if he were to be taken from
the camp. The true sense of the nurturing com-
munity of the men at Roaring Camp is seen when
everyone comes together for the child’s christening
and naming; and, while Stumpy takes charge of the
baby’s care, Roaring Camp as a community serves as
both the baby’s mother and father.
The arrival of “The Luck” clearly shifts the
identity of this community from the stereotypical,
rugged male-dominated society to one that clearly