Emerson Hough
Encyclopedia
Emerson Hough was an American author best known for writing western
stories and historical novels.
on June 28, 1857. He was in Newton High School's first graduating class of three in 1875. He graduated from the University of Iowa
with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1880 and later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882. His first article, "Far From The Madding Crowd," was published in Forest and Stream
in 1882.
He moved to White Oaks, New Mexico
, practiced law there, and wrote for the White Oaks newspaper Golden Era for a year and a half, returning to Iowa when his mother was ill. He later wrote a novel, Story of the Outlaw, a study of the western desperado, which included profiles of Billy the Kid
and Pat Garrett
. Hough moved to New Mexico after Garrett shot Billy the Kid, and he became a friend of Garrett. He wrote for various newspapers in Des Moines, Iowa, Sandusky, Ohio,
Chicago, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas. In 1889 he got a position as western editor of Forest and Stream, editing the "Chicago and the West" column. He was hired by George Bird Grinnell
, the owner of Field and Stream, who founded the Audubon Society in 1886 which, along with Theodore Roosevelt's Boone and Crockett Club
, was a leader in the conservation movement.
Hough was also a conservationist. One of his projects for Forest and Stream was to survey Yellowstone National Park in midwinter 1893, with a guide and 2 soldiers from the nearby fort of the same name. There were supposed to be more than 500 buffalo there, but their count barely reached 100. Due to Hough's report, eastern newspapers took up the cause against poaching, and in May 1894 the U.S. Congress passed a law making poaching of game in national parks a punishable offense. Later, he and other Saturday Evening Post writers wrote a letter for Stephen Mather and George Horace Latimer to sign, advocating the creation of a national park system. The National Park Service was created in 1916. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Izaak Walton League
, an organization of outdoorsmen, in 1922. He wrote the "Out-of-Doors" column for the Saturday Evening Post and these columns later appeared in book form.
In 1902, Hough began his association with Bobbs-Merrill Company
(then Bowen-Merrill), which published his first best-seller, Mississippi Bubble. Hough began a trilogy on America when he published 54-40 or Fight in 1909, dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt. He dedicated the second volume, Purchase Price, to U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge
of Indiana in 1910 and the third, John Rawn, to Woodrow Wilson in 1912. He nevertheless campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt, candidate of the Bull Moose Party, in the 1912 presidential election.
Reviewers noted the political nature of Hough's Western fiction. One reviewer wrote that John Rawn was "not a novel at all; it is an arraignment; it is propaganda" for progressive Republicans or the Democrats. It condemned protective tariffs and presented consistently negative portrait of money-driven characters. The review was positive, praising the novelist's portrait of his main character, but little else. Hough "makes his point, and hammers it hard. He leaves nothing for the reader to guess....He goes at it all with bludgeon and battle-ax....He has, as a fighter, a strong style. His book is well worth reading. But it is not art." Hough responded at length and with good humor, citing widely divergent views of the novel. He explained that a story of "blackguards and traitors" should not lead anyone to the conclusion that he believes such characters typify American society, rather that "imitation of blackguards and traitors is not a fit ambition for Americans."
He took a public position during the election of 1916
, adding his name to a letter sent on behalf of the Roosevelt Authors' League pledging support to Theodore Roosevelt because "the international crisis makes your re-election to the Presidency essential to the ultimate welfare of our country." It praised "the splendid fight you are making for Americanism" and had harsh words for the administration of Woodrow Wilson.
His other notable works included Story of the Cowboy, "which received a high recommendation from President Theodore Roosevelt," Way of the West, Singing Mouse Stories, and The Passing of the Frontier. Among his historical novels, The Magnificent Adventure in 1916 was set at the time of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition and told, said one reviewer, "a good stirring tale."
In 1889 Hough wrote Madre D'Oro, a four-act spectacular drama about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. With L. Frank Baum
, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, he created two play treatments: The Maid of Athens: A College Phantasy and The King of Gee-Whiz. Neither was ever completed or staged.
He also wrote autobiographical works, such as "Getting a Wrong Start", published anonymously as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post in 1913. It appeared in book form two years later. He then wrote "Emerson Hough Himself-by Himself" for the Post in 1917.
Hough wrote the official account of the activities of the American Protective League
(APL), a voluntary organization that attempted to enforce patriotism and stifle dissent during World War I
. Called The Web: A Revelation of Patriotism, it told the history of that controversial organization in glowing terms and called for a program of "selective immigration, deportation of un-Americans, and denaturalization of 'disloyal' citizens and anarchists." It said: "We must purify the source of America's population and keep it pure." When the APL organized teams of vigilantes to enforce the military draft, Hough described the places the organization was most needed: "We find that the great states of each coast are practically foreignNew York most of all." During the war he wrote a pamphlet for a similar organization, the American Defense Society
, called The Indefinite American Attitude Toward the War and When Shall It End.
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."
. 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.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
stories and historical novels.
Career
Hough was born in Newton, IowaNewton, Iowa
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 15,254. It is the home of Maytag Dairy Farms and was formerly home to the Maytag Corporation's corporate headquarters until the Whirlpool Corporation acquired it in 2006...
on June 28, 1857. He was in Newton High School's first graduating class of three in 1875. He graduated from the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1880 and later studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1882. His first article, "Far From The Madding Crowd," was published in Forest and Stream
Forest and Stream
Forest and Stream was a magazine featuring hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Founded in 1873, it was the ninth oldest magazine in the United States....
in 1882.
He moved to White Oaks, New Mexico
White Oaks, New Mexico
White Oaks is a ghost town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the outskirts of the Lincoln National Forest, it became a boomtown in 1879 following the discovery of gold and coal in the nearby Jicarilla Mountains.-History:...
, practiced law there, and wrote for the White Oaks newspaper Golden Era for a year and a half, returning to Iowa when his mother was ill. He later wrote a novel, Story of the Outlaw, a study of the western desperado, which included profiles of Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
and Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett
Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid...
. Hough moved to New Mexico after Garrett shot Billy the Kid, and he became a friend of Garrett. He wrote for various newspapers in Des Moines, Iowa, Sandusky, Ohio,
Chicago, Illinois, St. Louis, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas. In 1889 he got a position as western editor of Forest and Stream, editing the "Chicago and the West" column. He was hired by George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student...
, the owner of Field and Stream, who founded the Audubon Society in 1886 which, along with Theodore Roosevelt's Boone and Crockett Club
Boone and Crockett Club
The Boone and Crockett Club conservationist organization, founded in the United States in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt. The club was named in honor of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, whom the club's founders viewed as ethical hunters and honest men who loved the outdoors and earthly pursuits...
, was a leader in the conservation movement.
Hough was also a conservationist. One of his projects for Forest and Stream was to survey Yellowstone National Park in midwinter 1893, with a guide and 2 soldiers from the nearby fort of the same name. There were supposed to be more than 500 buffalo there, but their count barely reached 100. Due to Hough's report, eastern newspapers took up the cause against poaching, and in May 1894 the U.S. Congress passed a law making poaching of game in national parks a punishable offense. Later, he and other Saturday Evening Post writers wrote a letter for Stephen Mather and George Horace Latimer to sign, advocating the creation of a national park system. The National Park Service was created in 1916. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Izaak Walton League
Izaak Walton League
The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fishing opportunities for future generations...
, an organization of outdoorsmen, in 1922. He wrote the "Out-of-Doors" column for the Saturday Evening Post and these columns later appeared in book form.
In 1902, Hough began his association with Bobbs-Merrill Company
Bobbs-Merrill Company
The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bobbs-Merrill was known for publishing such authors as Richard Halliburton, David Markson, Ayn Rand, James Whitcomb Riley, Walter Dean Myers, and Irma S. Rombauer. Bobbs-Merrill also published the early works of...
(then Bowen-Merrill), which published his first best-seller, Mississippi Bubble. Hough began a trilogy on America when he published 54-40 or Fight in 1909, dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt. He dedicated the second volume, Purchase Price, to U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge
Albert J. Beveridge
Albert Jeremiah Beveridge was an American historian and United States Senator from Indiana.-Early years:Albert J. Beveridge was born October 6, 1862 in Highland County, Ohio and his parents moved to Indiana soon after his birth, and his boyhood was one of hard work...
of Indiana in 1910 and the third, John Rawn, to Woodrow Wilson in 1912. He nevertheless campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt, candidate of the Bull Moose Party, in the 1912 presidential election.
Reviewers noted the political nature of Hough's Western fiction. One reviewer wrote that John Rawn was "not a novel at all; it is an arraignment; it is propaganda" for progressive Republicans or the Democrats. It condemned protective tariffs and presented consistently negative portrait of money-driven characters. The review was positive, praising the novelist's portrait of his main character, but little else. Hough "makes his point, and hammers it hard. He leaves nothing for the reader to guess....He goes at it all with bludgeon and battle-ax....He has, as a fighter, a strong style. His book is well worth reading. But it is not art." Hough responded at length and with good humor, citing widely divergent views of the novel. He explained that a story of "blackguards and traitors" should not lead anyone to the conclusion that he believes such characters typify American society, rather that "imitation of blackguards and traitors is not a fit ambition for Americans."
He took a public position during the election of 1916
United States presidential election, 1916
The United States presidential election of 1916 took place while Europe was embroiled in World War I. Public sentiment in the still neutral United States leaned towards the British and French forces, due to the harsh treatment of civilians by the German Army, which had invaded and occupied large...
, adding his name to a letter sent on behalf of the Roosevelt Authors' League pledging support to Theodore Roosevelt because "the international crisis makes your re-election to the Presidency essential to the ultimate welfare of our country." It praised "the splendid fight you are making for Americanism" and had harsh words for the administration of Woodrow Wilson.
His other notable works included Story of the Cowboy, "which received a high recommendation from President Theodore Roosevelt," Way of the West, Singing Mouse Stories, and The Passing of the Frontier. Among his historical novels, The Magnificent Adventure in 1916 was set at the time of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition and told, said one reviewer, "a good stirring tale."
In 1889 Hough wrote Madre D'Oro, a four-act spectacular drama about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs. With L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, he created two play treatments: The Maid of Athens: A College Phantasy and The King of Gee-Whiz. Neither was ever completed or staged.
He also wrote autobiographical works, such as "Getting a Wrong Start", published anonymously as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post in 1913. It appeared in book form two years later. He then wrote "Emerson Hough Himself-by Himself" for the Post in 1917.
Hough wrote the official account of the activities of the American Protective League
American Protective League
The American Protective League was an American organization of private citizens that worked with Federal law enforcement agencies during the World War I era to identify suspected German sympathizers and to counteract the activities of radicals, anarchists, anti-war activists, and left-wing labor...
(APL), a voluntary organization that attempted to enforce patriotism and stifle dissent during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Called The Web: A Revelation of Patriotism, it told the history of that controversial organization in glowing terms and called for a program of "selective immigration, deportation of un-Americans, and denaturalization of 'disloyal' citizens and anarchists." It said: "We must purify the source of America's population and keep it pure." When the APL organized teams of vigilantes to enforce the military draft, Hough described the places the organization was most needed: "We find that the great states of each coast are practically foreignNew York most of all." During the war he wrote a pamphlet for a similar organization, the American Defense Society
American Defense Society
The American Defense Society was a nationalist American political group founded in 1915. It advocated American intervention against Germany during World War I and opposition to the Bolsheviks when they came to power in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917.-Formation:Clarence Smedley Thomas,...
, called The Indefinite American Attitude Toward the War and When Shall It End.
Personal life
He married Charlotte Chesebro of ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1897 and made that city his home. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he served as a Captain with the Intelligence Service. He died in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, on April 30, 1923, a week after seeing the Chicago premiere of the movie The Covered Wagon
The Covered Wagon
The Covered Wagon is an American silent Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a novel by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers traveling through the old West from Kansas to Oregon. J...
, 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."
Later recognition
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 RevolutionDaughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
. The school grounds include a playground with a western theme called Fort Emerson Hough. The local chapter of the Izaak Walton League
Izaak Walton League
The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fishing opportunities for future generations...
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.
External links
- Legends of America: Search="Emerson Hough", full text of approximately 120 articles and short stories by Emerson Hough
- Internet Movie Database: "Emerson Hough"
- Papers of Emerson Hough held at the University of Wyoming
- Papers of Emerson Hough held at the University of IowaUniversity of IowaThe University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
- Johnson, Carole M., 'Emerson Hough's American West', Books at Iowa 21 (November 1974)