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80-527: The magazine was known for containing strong political Americanism combined with art and literature. Many 19th-century writers such as Ambrose Bierce , Yda Addis , Emma Frances Dawson , and Gertrude Atherton appeared regularly in its pages. It was considered one of the most important publications in California, and it had a great deal of political influence. As a staunch Republican, Pixley used The Argonaut to support Leland Stanford and other owners of

160-510: A cause célèbre . Bierce meant his poem to express a national mood of dismay and fear, but after McKinley was shot in 1901, it seemed to foreshadow the crime: The bullet that pierced Goebel's breast Can not be found in all the West; Good reason, it is speeding here To stretch McKinley on his bier. Hearst was thereby accused by rival newspapers—and by then- Secretary of War Elihu Root —of having called for McKinley's assassination. Despite

240-629: A commissioner of the United Colonies of New England on multiple occasions and served twice as president. His journal Of Plymouth Plantation covered the years from 1620 to 1646 in Plymouth. William Bradford was born to Alice Hanson and William Bradford in Austerfield , West Riding of Yorkshire , and was baptized on 19 March 1590. The family possessed a large farm and were considered wealthy and influential. Bradford's grandfather

320-405: A crew of 30-40 in extremely cramped conditions. By the second month out, the ship was being buffeted by westerly gales, causing the ship's timbers to be badly shaken, with caulking failing to keep out sea water, and with passengers lying wet and ill, even in their berths. There were two deaths on the trip, a crew member and a passenger. They spotted Cape Cod hook on 9/19 November 1620, after about

400-849: A fictional Ambrose Bierce have received favorable reviews, generated international sales, or earned major awards. Bierce's short stories, "Haita the Shepherd" and " An Inhabitant of Carcosa " are believed to have influenced early weird fiction writer Robert W. Chambers ' tales of The King in Yellow (1895), which featured Hastur , Carcosa , Lake Hali and other names and locations initiated in these tales. Chambers in turn went on to influence H. P. Lovecraft and much of modern horror fiction. In 1918, H. L. Mencken called Bierce "the one genuine wit that These States have ever seen." At least three films have been made of Bierce's story " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ". A silent film version, The Bridge ,

480-567: A month of delays in England and two months at sea. They spent several days trying to get south to their planned destination of the Colony of Virginia , but strong winter seas forced them to return to the harbor at Cape Cod hook, now called Provincetown Harbor, where they anchored on 11/21 November 1620. The Mayflower Compact was signed that day, Bradford being one of the first to sign. Bradford had yet to assume any significant leadership role in

560-476: A national uproar that ended his ambitions for the presidency (and even his membership in the Bohemian Club ), Hearst kept employing Bierce. During his lifetime, Bierce was better known as a journalist than as a fiction writer. His most popular stories were written in rapid succession between 1888 and 1891, in what was characterized as "a tremendous burst of consummate art". Bierce's works often highlight

640-589: A profit despite increased circulation of the San Francisco Examiner . Robert O. Cornthwaite appears as Sam Chamberlain. Carlos Fuentes 's 1985 novel The Old Gringo is a fictionalized account of Bierce's disappearance; it was later adapted into the film Old Gringo (1989), starring Gregory Peck in the title role. Fuentes stated: "What started this novel was my admiration for Ambrose Bierce and for his Tales of Soldiers and Civilians ." Two adaptations were made of Bierce's story "Eyes of

720-691: A reputable standing. In 1613, he married Dorothy May, the daughter of a well-off English couple living in Amsterdam. They were married in a civil service, as they could find no example of a religious service in the Scriptures. In 1617, they had their first child, named John. In 1619, William Bradford sold his house in Leiden and appears in March 1620 tax records in London being taxed for personal property at

800-777: A result of contact with English fishermen or from contact with the French to the north. Bradford wrote that bones of the dead were clearly evident in many places. When the exploring party made their way back on board, he learned of the death of his wife Dorothy. Dorothy (May) Bradford from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, fell overboard off the deck of the Mayflower during his absence and drowned. William Bradford recorded her death in his journal. Some historians speculate that she may have died by suicide. The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Bay on 20 December 1620. The settlers began building

880-590: A terrifying experience that became a source for several short stories and the memoir "What I Saw of Shiloh". In April 1863 he was commissioned a first lieutenant , and served on the staff of General William Babcock Hazen as a topographical engineer , making maps of likely battlefields. As a staff officer, Bierce became known to leading generals such as George H. Thomas and Oliver O. Howard , both of whom supported his application for admission to West Point in May 1864. General Hazen believed Bierce would graduate from

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960-532: A trace , one of the most famous disappearances in American literary history. Bierce's ultimate fate remains a mystery. He wrote in one of his final letters: "Good-bye. If you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags, please know that I think it is a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico--ah, that

1040-519: A year later, in 1597, and Bradford thus became an orphan at the age of seven and was sent to live with two uncles. His uncles wanted him to help on the farm, and he later noted in his journal that he suffered at that time from a "long sickness" and was unable to work. He instead turned to reading and became familiar with the Bible and classic works of literature. This is seen by some as a key factor in his intellectual curiosity and his eventual attraction to

1120-523: Is Of Plymouth Plantation . It is a detailed history in journal form about the founding of the Plymouth Colony and the lives of the colonists from 1621 to 1646, a detailed account of his experiences and observations. The first part of the work was written in 1630; toward the end of his life, he updated it to provide "the account of the colony's struggles and achievements through the year 1646." Bradford drew deep parallels between everyday life and

1200-660: Is among our three greatest writers." When told this, Bierce responded, "I am sure Mr. Howells is the other two." Bierce married Mary Ellen "Mollie" Day on December 25, 1871. They had three children: sons Day (1872–1889) and Leigh (1874–1901) and daughter Helen (1875–1940). Both of Bierce's sons died before he did. Day committed suicide after a romantic rejection (he non-fatally shot the woman of his affections along with her fiancé beforehand), and Leigh died of pneumonia related to alcoholism. Bierce separated from his wife in 1888, after discovering compromising letters to her from an admirer. They divorced in 1904. Mollie Day Bierce died

1280-496: Is euthanasia!" Skeptic Joe Nickell noted that the letter to Partington had not been found; all that existed was a notebook belonging to his secretary and companion Carrie Christiansen. Partington concluded that Bierce deliberately concealed his true whereabouts when he finally went to a selected location in the Grand Canyon and died as a result of suicide. There was an official investigation by U.S. consular officials of

1360-665: Is his much-quoted The Devil's Dictionary , originally an occasional newspaper item, first published in book form in 1906 as The Cynic's Word Book. Described as "howlingly funny", it consists of satirical definitions of English words which lampoon cant and political double-talk. Bierce edited the twelve volumes of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce , which were published from 1909 to 1912. The seventh volume consists solely of The Devil's Dictionary . Bierce has been criticized by his contemporaries and later scholars for deliberately pursuing improbability and for his penchant toward " trick endings ". In his later stories, apparently under

1440-542: The Overland Monthly , The Californian and The Wasp . A selection of his crime reporting from The San Francisco News Letter was included in the Library of America anthology True Crime . Bierce lived and wrote in England from 1872 to 1875, contributing to Fun magazine. His first book, The Fiend's Delight , a compilation of his articles, was published in London in 1873 by John Camden Hotten under

1520-666: The American Revolution Bicentennial Administration . His story " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge " has been described as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", and his book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (also published as In the Midst of Life ) was named by the Grolier Club one of the 100 most influential American books printed before 1900. A prolific and versatile writer, Bierce

1600-554: The Bishop of London 's library at Fulham Palace . A long debate ensued as to the rightful home for the manuscript. United States Senator George Frisbie Hoar and others made multiple attempts to have it returned, and the British finally relinquished it to Massachusetts on 26 May 1897. Bradford's journal also contributed to the book Mourt's Relation , which was written in part by Edward Winslow and published in England in 1622. It

1680-561: The Dutch Republic , where religious freedom was permitted, and Bradford determined to go with them. The group encountered several major setbacks when trying to leave England, most notably their betrayal by an English sea captain who had agreed to carry them to the Netherlands, but instead turned them over to the authorities. Most of the congregation were imprisoned for a short time after this failed attempt, including Bradford. By

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1760-611: The Great Plains . The expedition traveled by horseback and wagon from Omaha, Nebraska , arriving toward year's end in San Francisco, California. In the city, Bierce was awarded the rank of brevet major before resigning from the Army. Bierce remained in San Francisco for many years, eventually becoming famous as a contributor or editor of newspapers and periodicals, including The San Francisco News Letter , The Argonaut ,

1840-462: The sachem of the Pokanokets. This soon led to a visit by Massasoit himself on 22 March, during which he signed a treaty with John Carver , Governor of Plymouth, which declared an alliance between the Pokanokets and Plymouth, requiring them to aid one another militarily in times of need. Bradford recorded the language of the brief treaty in his journal. He soon became governor and the clause of

1920-530: The Central Pacific Railroad. Pixley, who served as The Argonaut ' s editor and publisher, had been California's eighth attorney general when Stanford was governor. The journal was founded as a counterweight to Denis Kearney, an Irish-born labor leader who represented many of the Irish immigrants who worked for the railroad. Pixley, who wanted someday to become governor of California himself,

2000-566: The Church of England. By 1607, secret meetings were being held at Scrooby Manor and about 50 reform-minded individuals began to worship together, led by Richard Clyfton and the Rev. John Robinson . This group decided that reform of the Church of England was hopeless and they would sever all ties. Their weekly meetings eventually attracted the attention of the Archbishop of York , and many members of

2080-659: The Duke's Place, Aldgate . Aldgate was an area of London known to be the residence of numerous Dutch merchants, as well as many religious dissenters. Some familiar Mayflower names of families living in the area included Allerton , Tilley , Sampson , and Hopkins . One family in Aldgate played an important part in Bradford's life in America. Edward and Alice (Carpenter) Southworth and their two sons were residing at Heneage House,

2160-607: The Duke's Place, in Aldgate in 1620. Southworth was a highly respected leader of the Leiden group, but he died in 1621/22. His widow Alice emigrated to Plymouth Colony after Bradford's wife died, and they were married. By 1617, the Scrooby congregation began to plan the establishment of their own colony in the Americas. The Separatists could practice religion as they pleased in the Dutch Republic, but they were troubled by

2240-504: The Dutch Republic. After nine months, the group chose to relocate to the smaller city of Leiden . Bradford continued to reside with the Brewster family in a poor Leiden neighborhood known as Stink Alley. Conditions changed dramatically for him when he turned 21 and was able to claim his family inheritance in 1611. He bought his own house, set up a workshop as a fustian weaver (weaver of heavy cotton cloth for men's clothing), and earned

2320-558: The Form of Annals. Even today it is considered a valuable piece of American literature, included in anthologies and studied in literature and history classes. It has been called an American classic and the preeminent work of art in seventeenth-century New England." The Of Plymouth Plantation manuscript disappeared by 1780, "presumably stolen by a British soldier during the British occupation of Boston "; it reappeared in Fulham , London, in

2400-821: The Merchant Adventurers. By July 1620, Robert Cushman and John Carver had made the necessary arrangements, and approximately fifty Separatists departed Delftshaven on board the Speedwell . It was an emotional departure. Many families were split, as some Separatists stayed behind in the Netherlands , planning to make the voyage to the New World after the colony had been established. William and Dorothy Bradford left their three-year-old son John with Dorothy's parents in Amsterdam , possibly because he

2480-520: The Netherlands (itself an allusion to Hebrews 11:13 in the Bible): ...With mutual embraces and many tears, they took their leaves of one another, which proved to be the last leave to many of them...but they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things, but lifted their eyes to heaven, their dearest country and quieted their spirits... The Mayflower departed Plymouth , England on 6/16 September 1620. The 100-foot ship had 102 passengers and

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2560-473: The Panther". One version was developed for Shelley Duvall 's Nightmare Classics series and was released in 1990. It runs about 60 minutes. A shorter version was released in 2007 by director Michael Barton and runs about 23 minutes. Bierce was a major character in a series of mystery books written by Oakley Hall and published between 1998 and 2006. Biographer Richard O'Connor argued that, "War

2640-466: The Scrooby congregation were about 50 colonists who had been recruited by the Merchant Adventurers for their vocational skills, which would prove useful in establishing a colony. These passengers of the Mayflower , both Separatist and non-Separatist, are commonly referred to today as "Pilgrims." The term is derived from a passage in Bradford's journal, written years later, describing their departure from

2720-701: The Separatist branch of Puritan theology. When Bradford was 12 years old, a friend invited him to hear the Rev. Richard Clyfton preach 10 miles away in All Saints' Church, Babworth in Nottinghamshire . Clyfton believed that the Church of England ought to eliminate all vestiges of Roman Catholic practices, and that this would result in a purer Christian church. Bradford was inspired by his preaching and continued to attend his sermons, even though he

2800-620: The Treasurer of the United States." Bierce's coverage and diatribes on the subject aroused such public wrath that the bill was defeated. Bierce returned to California in November. In 1899, he moved back to Washington, D.C., and remained a resident until his disappearance in 1913. The best known of his four different residences in the city during this time perhaps is the townhouse at 18 Logan Circle . Bierce's long newspaper career

2880-399: The U.S. government to build the first transcontinental railroad . Central Pacific executive Collis P. Huntington persuaded a friendly member of Congress to introduce a bill excusing the companies from repaying the loans, amounting to $ 130 million (worth $ 4.76 billion today). In January 1896 Hearst dispatched Bierce to Washington, D.C. , to foil this attempt. The essence of the plot

2960-468: The burials. During the epidemic, there were only a small number of men who remained healthy and bore the responsibility of caring for the sick. One of these was Captain Myles Standish , a soldier who had been hired by the settlers to coordinate the defense of the colony. Standish cared for Bradford during his illness and this was the beginning of a bond of friendship between the two men. Bradford

3040-469: The colony by the time that he was 30. The Mayflower anchored in Provincetown Harbor and he volunteered to be a member of the exploration parties searching for a place for settlement. In November and December, these parties made three separate ventures from the Mayflower on foot and by boat, finally locating Plymouth Harbor in mid-December and selecting that site for settlement. During

3120-418: The colony's first house on 25 December (Christmas). Their efforts were slowed, however, when a widespread sickness struck the settlers. The sickness had begun on the ship. On 11 January 1621, Bradford was helping to build houses when he was suddenly struck with great pain in his hipbone and collapsed. He was taken to the "common house" (the only finished house built then) and it was feared that he would not last

3200-464: The congregation were arrested in 1607. Brewster was found guilty of being "disobedient in matters of religion" and was fined. Some members were imprisoned and others were watched "night and day", according to Bradford, by those loyal to the archbishop. Adding to their concerns, the Scrooby congregation learned that other dissenters in London had been imprisoned and left to starve. The Scrooby congregation decided in 1607 to leave England unlawfully for

3280-607: The disappearance of one of its citizens. Some of Villa's men were questioned at the time of his disappearance and afterwards, with contradictory accounts. U.S. Army chief of staff Hugh L. Scott contacted Pancho Villa's U.S. representative Felix A. Sommerfeld , and Sommerfeld investigated the disappearance. Bierce was said to have been last seen in the city of Chihuahua in January. Oral tradition in Sierra Mojada , Coahuila documented by priest James Lienert states that Bierce

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3360-477: The ensuing days, they explored the bay and found a suitable place for settlement, now the site of downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts. The location featured a prominent hill ideal for a defensive fort. There were numerous brooks providing fresh water, and it had been the location of an Indian village known as Patuxet ; therefore, much of the area had already been cleared for planting crops. The Patuxet tribe had been wiped out by plagues between 1616 and 1619, possibly as

3440-706: The events of the Bible . As Philip Gould writes, "Bradford hoped to demonstrate the workings of divine providence for the edification of future generations." In 1888, Charles F. Richardson referred to Bradford as a "forerunner of literature" and "a story-teller of considerable power." Moses Coit Tyler called him "the father of American history." Many American authors have cited his work in their writings; for example, Cotton Mather referred to it in Magnalia Christi Americana and Thomas Prince referred to it in A Chronological History of New-England in

3520-495: The fact that their children were being influenced by Dutch customs and language, after nearly ten years in the Netherlands . Therefore, they commenced three years of difficult negotiations in England seeking permission to settle in the northern parts of the Colony of Virginia (which then extended north to the Hudson River ). The colonists also struggled to negotiate terms with a group of financial backers in London known as

3600-405: The fields on a hot day. He died a few days later. The settlers of Plymouth then chose Bradford as the new governor, a position which he retained off and on for the rest of his life. The elected leadership of Plymouth Colony at first consisted of a governor and an assistant governor. The assistant governor for the first three years of the colony's history was Isaac Allerton . In 1624, the structure

3680-420: The first expedition on foot, Bradford got caught in a deer trap made by Indians and hauled nearly upside down. The third exploration departed from the Mayflower on 6 December 1620 when a group of men (including Bradford) located Plymouth Bay. A winter storm nearly sank their boat as they approached the bay, but they managed to land on Clark's Island , suffering from severe exposure to the cold and waves. During

3760-549: The following year. Bierce was an avowed agnostic and strongly rejected the divinity of Christ . He had lifelong asthma , as well as complications from his war wounds, most notably episodes of fainting and irritability assignable to the traumatic brain injury experienced at Kennesaw Mountain. In October 1913 Bierce, then age 71, departed from Washington, D.C. for a tour of his old Civil War battlefields. According to some reports, by December he had passed through Louisiana and Texas, crossing by way of El Paso into Mexico, which

3840-424: The honor and glory of war from people who'd never seen or experienced it personally. According to Milton Subotsky , Bierce helped pioneer the psychological horror story. In addition to his ghost and war stories, he also published several volumes of poetry. His Fantastic Fables anticipated the ironic style of grotesquerie that became a more common genre in the 20th century. One of Bierce's most famous works

3920-447: The influence of Maupassant , Bierce "dedicated himself to shocking the audience", as if his purpose was "to attack the reader's smug intellectual security". Bierce's bias towards Naturalism has also been noted: "The biting, deriding quality of his satire, unbalanced by any compassion for his targets, was often taken as petty meanness, showing contempt for humanity and an intolerance to the point of merciless cruelty". Stephen Crane

4000-574: The inscrutability of the universe and the absurdity of death . Bierce wrote realistically of the terrible things he had seen in the war in such stories as " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ", " A Horseman in the Sky ", " One of the Missing ", and " Chickamauga ". His grimly realistic cycle of 25 war stories has been called "the greatest anti-war document in American literature". To the end of his life, nothing would so infuriate him as hearing accounts of

4080-479: The local term for gold prospectors during the California gold rush , who were called argonauts. In the early 1990s, Warren Hinckle launched a print publication titled The Argonaut , and an online version called Argonaut360 . Hinckle made a jocular claim to continuity with the original publication (along with some colorful embellishments on the original publication's history), and used numbering consistent with

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4160-648: The military academy "with distinction" and William T. Sherman also endorsed the application for admission, even though stating he had no personal acquaintance with Bierce. In June 1864, Bierce sustained a traumatic brain injury at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and spent the rest of the summer on furlough, returning to active duty in September. He was discharged from the army in January 1865. His military career resumed in mid-1866, when he joined General Hazen as part of an expedition to inspect military outposts across

4240-434: The night. Bradford recovered, but many of the other settlers were not so fortunate. During the months of February and March 1621, sometimes two or three people died a day. By the end of the winter, half of the 100 settlers had died. In an attempt to hide their weakness from Native Americans who might be watching them, the settlers buried their dead in unmarked graves on Cole's Hill, often at night, and made efforts to conceal

4320-502: The original publication. In 1990, the San Francisco Historical Society also launched a journal called The Argonaut . Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – c.  1914 ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book The Devil's Dictionary was named one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by

4400-471: The pseudonym "Dod Grile". Returning to the United States, he again took up residence in San Francisco. From 1879 to 1880, he traveled to Rockerville and Deadwood in the Dakota Territory , to try his hand as local manager for a New York mining company. When the company failed he returned to San Francisco and resumed his career in journalism. From January 1, 1881, until September 11, 1885, he

4480-623: The start of the American Civil War , he enlisted in the Union Army 's 9th Indiana Infantry . He participated in the operations in Western Virginia (1861), was present at the Battle of Philippi (the first organized land action of the war) and received newspaper attention for his daring rescue, under fire, of a gravely wounded comrade at the Battle of Rich Mountain . Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862),

4560-450: The story had been adapted as an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents . Another version, directed by Brian James Egen, was released in 2005. It was also adapted for the CBS radio programs Escape (1947), Suspense (1956, 1957, 1959), and Radio Mystery Theater (1974). In his 1932 book Wild Talents , American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena Charles Fort wrote about

4640-475: The summer of 1608, however, they managed to escape England in small groups and relocate to Leiden in the Dutch Republic. Bradford was 18. Bradford arrived in Amsterdam in August 1608. He had no family with him and was taken in by the Brewster household. The Scrooby congregation had to work the lowest of jobs and to live in poor conditions, being foreigners and having spent most of their money in attempts to get to

4720-660: The treaty that occupied much of his attention as governor pertained to mutual aid. It read, "If any did unjustly war against [Massasoit], we would aid him; if any did war against us, Massasoit should aid us." This agreement secured the colonists with a faithful ally in New England , though it resulted in tensions between the colonists and Massasoit's rivals, such as the Narragansetts and the Massachusetts . In April 1621, Governor Carver collapsed while working in

4800-403: The unexplained disappearances of Ambrose Bierce and Ambrose Small , and asked, "Was somebody collecting Ambroses?" Actor James Lanphier (1920–1969) played Bierce, with James Hampton as William Randolph Hearst , in the 1964 episode "The Paper Dynasty", of the syndicated western television series Death Valley Days , hosted by Stanley Andrews . In the story line, Hearst struggles to turn

4880-485: Was William Bradforthe, who had at least four children, including Bradford's father, and was probably of noble ancestry, according to researcher George J. Hill. Bradford's childhood was marked by numerous deaths in the family. He was just over a year old when his father died. His mother remarried when he was four years old, and he was sent to live with his grandfather. His grandfather died two years later, and he returned to live with his mother and stepfather. His mother died

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4960-657: Was a descendant of William Bradford . His parents were a poor but literary couple who instilled in him a deep love for books and writing. Bierce grew up in Kosciusko County , Indiana, attending high school at the county seat , Warsaw . He left home at 15 to become a printer's devil at a small abolitionist newspaper, the Northern Indianan . Bierce briefly attended the Kentucky Military Institute until it burned down. At

5040-815: Was an English Puritan Separatist originally from the West Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England . He moved to Leiden in Holland in order to escape persecution from King James I of England , and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620. He was a signatory to the Mayflower Compact and went on to serve as Governor of the Plymouth Colony intermittently for about 30 years between 1621 and 1657. He served as

5120-496: Was changed to a governor and five assistants who were referred to as the "court of assistants," "magistrates," or the "governor's council." These men advised the governor and had the right to vote on important matters of governance, helping Bradford in guiding the growth of the colony and its improvised government. Assistants during the early years of the colony included Thomas Prence , Stephen Hopkins , John Alden , and John Howland . William Bradford's most well-known work by far

5200-608: Was considered an influential and feared literary critic. In recent decades, Bierce has gained wider respect as a fabulist and for his poetry. In 1913, Bierce told reporters that he was travelling to Mexico to gain first-hand experience of the Mexican Revolution . He disappeared and was never seen again. Bierce was born in a log cabin at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio , on June 24, 1842, to Marcus Aurelius Bierce (1799–1876) and Laura Sherwood Bierce. He

5280-499: Was editor of The Wasp magazine, in which he began a column titled "Prattle". He also became one of the first regular columnists and editorialists on William Randolph Hearst 's newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner , eventually becoming one of the most prominent and influential writers and journalists on the West Coast . He remained associated with Hearst Newspapers until 1909. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies had received large, low-interest loans from

5360-426: Was elected governor soon after Carver's death and, in that capacity, he worked closely with Standish. Bradford had no military experience and therefore came to rely on and trust the advice of Captain Myles Standish concerning military matters. On 16 March, the settlers had their first meeting with the American Indians in the region when Samoset walked into the village of Plymouth as a representative of Massasoit ,

5440-575: Was executed by firing squad in the town's cemetery. Bierce has been fictionalized in more than 50 novels, short stories, movies, television shows, stage plays, and comic books. Most of these works draw upon Bierce's vivid personality, colorful wit, relationships with famous people such as Jack London and William Randolph Hearst , or, quite frequently, his mysterious disappearance. Bierce has been portrayed by such well-known authors as Ray Bradbury , Jack Finney , Carlos Fuentes , Winston Groom , Robert Heinlein , and Don Swaim. Some works featuring

5520-493: Was forbidden by his uncles. During one meeting, Bradford met William Brewster , a bailiff and postmaster who lived at Scrooby manor, four miles from Austerfield. During frequent visits, Bradford borrowed books from him, and Brewster regaled him with stories of the efforts toward church reform taking place throughout England. King James I came to the English throne in 1603, declaring that he would put an end to church reform movements and deal harshly with radical critics of

5600-514: Was in the throes of revolution . In Ciudad Juárez he joined Pancho Villa 's army as an observer, and in that role he witnessed the Battle of Tierra Blanca . It was reported that Bierce accompanied Villa's army as far as the city of Chihuahua . His last known communication with the world was a letter he wrote there to Blanche Partington , a close friend, dated December 26, 1913. After closing this letter by saying, "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination," he vanished without

5680-404: Was intended to inform Europeans about the conditions surrounding the American colonists at the Plymouth Colony. Bradford's Dialogues are a collection of fictional conversations between the old and new generations, between "younge men" and "Ancient men". William Bradford married: Child of William and Dorothy Bradford: Children of William and Alice Bradford: Bradford died on May 9, 1657 and

5760-409: Was made in 1929 by Charles Vidor . A French version called La Rivière du Hibou , directed by Robert Enrico , was released in 1962; this black-and-white film faithfully recounts the original narrative using voiceover. It aired in 1964 on American television as one of the final episodes of the television series The Twilight Zone : " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge ". Prior to The Twilight Zone ,

5840-647: Was of entirely English ancestry: all of his forebears came to North America between 1620 and 1640 as part of the Great Puritan Migration. He often wrote critically of "Puritan values" and people who "made a fuss" about genealogy. He was the tenth of thirteen children, all of whom were given names by their father beginning with the letter "A": in order of birth, the Bierce siblings were Abigail, Amelia, Ann, Addison, Aurelius, Augustus, Almeda, Andrew, Albert, Ambrose, Arthur, Adelia, and Aurelia. His mother

5920-491: Was of the minority of Bierce's contemporaries who valued Bierce's experimental short stories. In his essay " Supernatural Horror in Literature ", H. P. Lovecraft characterized Bierce's fictional work as "grim and savage." Lovecraft goes on to say that nearly all of Bierce's stories are of the horror genre and some shine as great examples of weird fiction . Critic and novelist William Dean Howells said, "Mr. Bierce

6000-456: Was often controversial because of his penchant for biting social criticism and satire. On several occasions his columns stirred up a storm of hostile reaction, which created difficulties for Hearst. One of the most notable of these incidents occurred following the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 when Hearst's opponents turned a poem Bierce had written about the assassination of Governor William Goebel of Kentucky in 1900 into

6080-503: Was regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. For his horror writing, Michael Dirda ranked him alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft . S. T. Joshi speculates that he may well be the greatest satirist America has ever produced, and in this regard can take his place with such figures as Juvenal , Swift , and Voltaire . His war stories influenced Stephen Crane , Ernest Hemingway , and others, and he

6160-545: Was said to have handed out gold coins to sway voters. Jerome Hart became editor in 1891. Pixley sold the journal before his death in 1895 for $ 11,000.00. This period was seen as a low point in The Argonaut ' s quality. Alfred Holman purchased the newspaper in 1907, shortly after selling all his interests in the Sacramento Union . He served as publisher and editor until 1924. The title comes from

6240-474: Was secrecy; the railroads' advocates hoped to get the bill through Congress without any public notice or hearings. When the angered Huntington confronted Bierce on the steps of the Capitol and told Bierce to name his price, Bierce's answer ended up in newspapers nationwide: "My price is one hundred thirty million dollars. If, when you are ready to pay, I happen to be out of town, you may hand it over to my friend,

6320-557: Was the making of Bierce as a man and a writer... [he became] truly capable of transferring the bloody, headless bodies and boar-eaten corpses of the battlefield onto paper." Essayist Clifton Fadiman wrote, "Bierce was never a great writer. He has painful faults of vulgarity and cheapness of imagination. But ... his style, for one thing, will preserve him; and the purity of his misanthropy , too, will help to keep him alive." William Bradford (Plymouth governor) William Bradford ( c. 19 March 1590 – 9 May 1657)

6400-492: Was too frail to make the voyage. According to the arrangements made by Carver and Cushman, the Speedwell was to meet with the Mayflower off the coast of England and both were destined for the northern part of the Colony of Virginia . The Speedwell , however, proved to be not structurally sound enough to make the voyage, and some of the passengers were transferred aboard the Mayflower , making crowded conditions. Joining

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