Reading Notes Week 3: Harte, Part A

"The Luck of Roaring Camp"

The name of a woman was frequently repeated. Cherokee Sal was the name that was frequently repeated. She was a coarse, and it is to be feared, a very sinful woman. At the time she was the only woman in Roaring Camp. She was lying in sore extremity when what she needed was the ministration of her own sex. She was suffering a martyrdom hard enough to bear even when veiled by sympathizing womanhood. The first curse came to her in that original isolation which must have made the punishment of that first transgression so dreadful.

Deaths were by no means uncommon in Roaring Camp, but a birth was a new thing. Cherokee Sal was sinking fast. The only other being of Cherokee Sal's sex and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. Cherokee Sal had such rude sepulture. There was a formal meeting to discuss what should be done with her infant. There was talk about sending the infant for adoption to another camp named Red Dog, which was 40 miles away, but it was shot down.


Harte, "The Luck of Roaring Camp".