Emerson Hough
Emerson Hough was the author of some 34 books and countless magazine articles that were factual accounts and historical novels of life in the American West.
Hough hailed from Newton, Iowa, where he was born on June 28, 1857, to Joseph B. and Elizabeth Hough, who had moved from their native Virginia some five years earlier. He attended public schools in Newton and, after graduating high school in 1875, worked as a teacher in a rural school for a time before entering the University of Iowa. He graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1880 and then began to study law with a firm in Newton.
After completing his studies, Emerson moved west to White Oaks, New Mexico, where he practiced law for a time and worked as a reporter for the local newspaper, The Golden Era.
He returned to the Midwest in 1886, where he focused on writing, working at several newspapers in Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio, as well as writing freelance articles for several magazines. Having a love of the outdoors, including hunting and fishing, he spent much of his time camping and writing articles. In 1889, he was hired by the Forest and Stream magazine and later worked for Field & Stream and wrote an “outdoor” column for the Saturday Evening Post.
After spending time in Yellowstone in 1893 and seeing hundreds of buffalo killed, Emerson wrote several articles promoting conservation, which influenced the U.S. Congress to protect the buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. In 1897, he published The Story of the Cowboy and followed up with more than 20 works on the American West’s frontier life, gaining him a reputation as a “western” author.
In 1897, he married Charlotte Chesebro of Chicago, and the pair made Chicago their home. When World War I broke out, he served in the Army Intelligence Division, reaching the rank of captain. During this time, he became involved in regular correspondence with President Theodore Roosevelt, a fellow conservationist, and outdoorsman.
Two of his novels, The Covered Wagon and North of Thirty-Six, were turned into screenplays and later became popular silent films, making him one of the first Western authors to enter the motion picture industry.
Other notable works included the books The Mississippi Bubble, The Way of the West, Singing Mouse Stories, The Passing of the Frontier, The Story of the Outlaw, and several others.
Hough died on April 30, 1923, in Evanston, Illinois, from heart failure following an operation. He is buried, along with his wife, at Hope Cemetery in Galesburg, Illinois.
© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated March 2021.
Emerson Hough, western author
Articles from Emerson Hough:
We have excerpted several of Hough’s stories from his many books. However, the text as it appears on Legends of America is not verbatim, as it has been edited for spelling, grammar, clarity, and ease of the modern reader.
Emerson Hough
The Story of the Outlaw – A Study of the Western Desperado – By Emerson Hough, the entire book, 1905, 1907.
The Cattle Kings – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
The Cattle Trails – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
Cowboys on the American Frontier – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
The Frontier In History – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
The Indian Wars – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
Mines of Idaho & Montana – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
Pathways To the West – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
The Range of the American West – By Emerson Hough, book excerpt, The Passing of the Frontier, A Chronicle of the Old West, 1918.
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