The Sagebrusher: A Story of the West

by Emerson Hough

Emerson Hough (1857-1923) was an American author, best known for writing western stories. Hough graduated from the University of Iowa with a law degree. He moved to White Oaks, New Mexico, and practiced law there but eventually turned to literary work by taking camping trips and writing about them for publication. He is best known as a novelist, writing The Mississippi Bubble (1902) as well as The Covered Wagon (1922). Hough was also a conservationist, and was the catalyst behind a law passed by the U. S. Congress to protect the buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. His other works include The Singing Mouse Stories (1895), The Girl at the Halfway House (1900), The Law of the Land (1904), Heart's Desire (1905), The Way of a Man (1907), 54- 40 or Fight (1909), The Purchase Price (1910), The Man Next Door (1917), The Passing of the Frontier (1918) and The Sagebrusher (1919).

Genres: Westerns

Hardcover

First published June 28, 2007

About the author

Emerson Hough was an American author best known for writing western stories and historical novels.

He married Charlotte Chesebro of Chicago in 1897 and made that city his home. During World War I, he served as a Captain with the Intelligence Service. He died in Evanston, Illinois, on April 30, 1923, a week after seeing the Chicago premiere of the movie The Covered Wagon, based on his 1922 book. Covered Wagon was his biggest best-selling novel since Mississippi Bubble in 1902. "North of 36", another Hough novel, later became a popular silent film as well, "making him one of the first Western authors to enter into the motion picture industry." He is buried in Galesburg, Illinois.

Asked in 1918 to provide some details of his own life, he replied in the context of World War I: "This is no time for autobiography of men of letters. This is the day of biography for men who have been privileged to act in the great scenes of today. It is the time for boys of 23. At least we can bless them and back them the best we know. I will not tell about myself. It is of no consequence."

Hough's hometown, Newton, Iowa, has honored him in several ways. A school named for him opened in 1926. Emerson Hough Elementary School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. His boyhood home bears a marker provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The school grounds include a playground with a western theme called Fort Emerson Hough. The local chapter of the Izaak Walton League also bears his name, as does a street, Emerson Hough Avenue in Lambs Grove, Iowa, a suburb of Newton.

In March 2010, the school board voted to close Emerson Hough School.Efforts to prevent its closure have included a fund raising and a Facebook page.

Reviews

[David Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genius. Part Western, part love-story, part mystery, Hough succeeds in presenting us with an allegory: while we may not see it initially, we can come to learn that God orchestrates the best possible outcome for us -a plan dedicated to our happiness.

While Hough’s optimism may be dismissed as outdated by contemporary standards, it should still resonate with us as people; all of whom seek peace and contentment.

Happiness is for so many hard to come by, and there are so many roads to misery, but to borrow and paraphrase from the opening lines of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, those who possess it, receive it from the same common source.

This novel is life-affirming. As one of the characters tells the female protagonist in the novel, “I expect to hear you say that you’re glad you’re alive —not alive just because it was your duty to live.” I hope it’s timeless message moves you to be grateful for the best of all possible worlds you experience.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me

This is the first book I have read by this author. The writing was okay, but I founding difficult to stay engaged.