Tennessee's Partner (short story)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Tennessee's Partner'' is a short story by
Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...
, first published in the ''
Overland Monthly The ''Overland Monthly'' was a monthly literary and cultural magazine, based in California, United States. It was founded in 1868 and published between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. History The '' ...
'' in 1869, which has been described as "one of the earliest 'buddy' stories in American fiction." It was later loosely adapted into four films.


Plot

The story is set in Sandy Bar, an
Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
town, and focuses on two men, nicknamed "Tennessee" and "Tennessee's Partner." While Tennessee is a reckless gambler, his partner is humorless and practical. Despite their disparate personalities, they share a strong friendship that did not fail even when Tennessee was responsible for his partner's bride estranging him. When Tennessee blatantly tries to steal from a stranger, he is arrested and put on trial. Tennessee's Partner tries to stick up for his friend, saying that he might not agree with everything Tennessee does, but he still supports him. Tennessee's Partner then tries to bribe the judge, so as to pay for his partner's crime, but the judge refuses. Tennessee shakes hands with his partner, telling him, "
Euchre Euchre or eucre () is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. Normally there are four players, two on e ...
d, old man!" Tennessee's Partner claims that he was just passing through and decided to check up on Tennessee. Neither speak to each other again and Tennessee is hanged. Tennessee's Partner asks for the body of his friend and as he takes the donkey-cart away, other people follow out of curiosity or jest. Once Tennessee's Partner reaches his cabin, he makes a grave for his dead partner and declares that he carried Tennessee home, just as he'd done while his friend was alive. Weeks later, after declining in health, Tennessee's Partner lies in his death bed on a stormy night and thinks that he needs to go get Tennessee. After an attempt to rise, he is stopped by his attendant, but believes himself to be braving the storm, looking for Tennessee on the trail. In his final moment, Tennessee's Partner imagines himself finding Tennessee, and the story ends with "And so they met".


Publication history

First printed in California in the ''Overland Monthly'' for October 1869, "Tennessee's Partner" was reprinted the following month in Baltimore, in the ''New Eclectic Magazine''. In 1870 the story was published in a collected volume of Harte's short stories, printed in Boston, ''The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Sketches''. Reviews of the volume appeared in the '' Lakeside Monthly'', the ''
Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' and in ''
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by the publisher William Blackwood and was originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine''. The first number appeared in April 1817 ...
'', all giving particular mention to "Tennessee's Partner". In the same year the story was anthologized in London in
George Augustus Sala George Augustus Henry Fairfield Sala (November 1828 – 8 December 1895) was an author and journalist who wrote extensively for the ''Illustrated London News'' as G. A. S. and was most famous for his articles and leaders for ''The Daily Telegra ...
's ''A 3rd Supply of Yankee Drolleries: The Most Recent Works of the Best American Humourists''. Thereafter it continued to appear in magazines, such as Boston's weekly ''
Every Saturday ''Every Saturday'' (1866–1874) was an American literary magazine published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was edited by Thomas Bailey Aldrich and published by Ticknor and Fields (1866–1868); Fields, Osgood, & Co. (mid-1868–1870); James R. Osgoo ...
'' of Jan. 14, 1871,''Every Saturday'', Volume 2
at Google Books. as well as in other anthologies and in collections of Bret Harte's work.


Literary criticism

* Tara Penry, "'Tennessee's Partner' as Sentimental Western Metanarrative", ''American Literary Realism'', Vol. 36, No. 2 (Winter, 2004), pp. 148–165.


Films

The short story has been filmed as ''
Tennessee's Pardner ''Tennessee's Pardner'' is a surviving 1916 American Western film directed by George Melford, written by Marion Fairfax, and starring Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Charles Clary, Jessie Arnold, Ronald Bradbury, and Raymond Hatton. It was released Feb ...
'' (1916), ''
The Flaming Forties ''The Flaming Forties'' is a 1924 American silent Western film, the sixth of seven features which short-lived motion picture company Stellar Productions released in 1924–1925 as Producers Distributing Corporation vehicles for Harry Carey. Car ...
'' (1924), ''
The Golden Princess ''The Golden Princess'' is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Frances Agnew based upon an 1869 story by Bret Harte. The film stars Betty Bronson, Neil Hamilton, Phyllis Haver, Joseph J. Dowling, ...
'' (1925), and ''
Tennessee's Partner ''Tennessee's Partner'' is a 1955 American Western film directed by Allan Dwan, written by Graham Baker, D. D. Beauchamp, Milton Krims, and Teddi Sherman, with uncredited rewrites by Dwan, and starring John Payne, Ronald Reagan, Rhonda Flemin ...
'' (1955).


References


External links

* Bret Harte
"Tennessee's Partner"
, from ''The Short-Story: Specimens Illustrating Its Development'', edited by
Brander Matthews James Brander Matthews (February 21, 1852 – March 31, 1929) was an American academic, writer and literary critic. He was the first full-time professor of dramatic literature at Columbia University in New York and played a significant role in est ...
(New York: American Book Company, 1907). At Bartleby.com. {{Bret Harte Short stories by Bret Harte Western (genre) short stories Works originally published in Overland Monthly