Equal parts Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe , Ambrose Bierce was a journalist and novelist hold in Ohio in 1842 . Although he was well - have sex in his daylight , his legacy has n’t on the nose had the same staying index as that of some of his peer .
A newspaper muckraker know for his bite sarcasm and caustic wit , Bierce was acontributor and editorfor a number of West Coast newspapers and periodicals , including William Randolph Hearst ’s The San Francisco Examiner , start in 1887 . Some of his greatest success came withCivil Warstories like " The Devil ’s Dictionary " and " An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge . " He was also an complete psychological horror fib writer who put his mark on the genre with spooky tales like " The Death of Halpin Frayser . "
What Happened to Ambrose Bierce?
It turns out that the story of Bierce ’s own demise may be more captivating than any of his literary works . Just how Bierce met his fate depends largely on whom you necessitate .
" It ’s one of the great literary mysteries in America , " says Don Swaim , the writer of " The Assassination of Ambrose Bierce : A Love Story . " Swaim also runs awebsitedevoted to all thing Bierce . " My scene is that it will remain a tantalizing mystery . "
Was it a trip-up to Mexico and a foot race - in with Pancho Villa that marked the final chapter of Bierce ’s life chronicle ? Or was that just a head fake to keep folks off his true way ? Some say Bierce prognosticate it a life in the midsection of theGrand Canyon . Others exact he perished after pledge with the wrong crowd at a mining camp cantina .
What we know for sure is that Bierce ’s impact on civilisation and literature was plain , even if he does n’t garner the same name recognition as some of the other gravid scribes of the 19th century . The list of writer that have cite Bierce as an influence range from journalist H.L. Mencken to satiric novelist Kurt Vonnegut .
Bierce was one of the first American news reporter whose byline became a personal brand . His work for The San Francisco Examiner avail skitter a controversial bill that would have allow two California runway companies to walk away from billions of dollar bill in Union loanword obligations . He was also quote for bode — and accuse by rival of encourage — President William McKinley ’s blackwash .
Bierce to boot made moving ridge as an author of both state of war and horror stories . Still , it was his own disappearance that has most recently serve as the inspiration for Hollywood filmmaker Robert Rodriguez in " From Dusk Till Dawn 3 . "
Riding With Pancho Villa
It is widely believe that Bierce headed to the south in 1913 , design to cross the border and catch up with Villa in Chihuahua , Mexico . His last known letter was posted from the urban center in December of that yr .
Opinions differ as to whether the 71 - year - old Civil War veteran intended take up arm with the revolutionaries oppose Mexican president Victoriano Huerta or to simply observe the skirmishes as the basis for his next book .
Some suspect Villa may not have taken kindly to Bierce ’s company . Or he may have been captured by Huerta ’s forces . " He did go to Mexico at the height of the revolution , " Swaim says . " If you ’re conversant with that period of sentence , then you bang that they took no captive . "
A California dental practitioner nominate Adolphe Danziger exact that Villa admitted that heordered Bierce shotafter the author said he was leaving to join up with another sectarian leader , Venutiano Carranza . An American soldier of luck diagnose Tex O’Reilly later raise the theory that Bierce was killed by Mexican federal fighter while drink at a cantina in a minelaying camp called Sierra Mojada . Bierce snuff it before ever meet Villa , according to O’Reilly ’s edition of the upshot .
Could Bierce Have Died in Texas or in Arizona?
Others say Bierce died on the American side of the border .
Journalist Jake Silverstein in 2002 explored the theory that Bierce bid adieu to the physical world in Texas , not Mexico . Silverstein dug up an previous letter to the editor of a tiny local newspaper in Marfa , Texas , from a man who claim Bierce ’s body wasburiedthere in an unmarked grave accent . That valet de chambre told Silverstein that he had once pick up a hitchhiker who had fought for the Mexican federal forces as a teenager . The hitchhiker told the taradiddle of picking up an old gringo who appeared quite tired of and called himself " Ambrosia . " He pay the man and his friends to help oneself get him back into the U.S. and during the trip he talked of the many books he had written , one with with the word ' devil ' in the deed . But " Ambrosia " did n’t survive the trip-up back to the U.S. , and instead buy the farm of pneumonia on January 17 , 1914 , his organic structure forget in an unmarked grave in Marfa , Texas . It ’s possible that the mankind who call himself " Ambrosia " was Ambrose Bierce .
And then there ’s the Grand Canyon story . Some Bierce enthusiasts postulate that he had the missive direct from Mexico to throw citizenry off of his intended destination : self-annihilation in one of his favorite places to visit .
Swaim floated a more unremarkable end to Bierce ’s story in his own novel . In that version , Bierce survives the fighting in Mexico and heads to Saratoga Springs , New York . There he fall in love with a local fair sex and live out the quietus of his aliveness before go from an asthma attack attack .
That ’s not a relatively bad way to go out , but it ’s most likely also not what materialize .
" It ’s fiction , " Swaim says .
