These fifteen stories bring the California Gold Rush to life with their boisterous assemblage of rough-clad miners, pistol-packing preachers, iron-willed women, and philosophical gamblers. Theirs was an unpredictable world, filled with gold strikes and freak tragedies, when the wisdom of the gambler sometimes counted for more than that of the preacher; when normal rules were tossed aside and "the strongest man had but three fingers on his right hand; the best shot had but one eye."

A master storyteller, Harte weaves tales that seem to come directly from the campfire, where the spinning of yarns and swapping of lies were the highest form of entertainment. The stories presented in this volume, among his best, still have the power to engage us completely, to make us laugh out loud, and perhaps most surprisingly, to bring a tear to the eye.