Mystery: The Disappearance of Ambrose Bierce
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Ambrose Bierce was an influential journalist, satirist, writer of poetry and horror whose works were said to have inspired authors as diverse as H.P Lovecraft and Earnest Hemmingway. And his fame makes it all the more mysterious that, in 1913, he disappeared without a trace.
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You should do an episode on Edgar Allen Poe's death.
It seems likely he irritated someone in Mexico and fertilized the crops
Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary is a masterpiece of satire.
A masterpiece for it’s time
@@Birdwashit's no longer a masterpiece?
I suspect it inspired John Brunner in "Stand on Zanzibar" a character's Hipcrime Vocab.
@@Iamrightyouarewrong you try reading it lately? It’s a bit antiquated in the way it’s written. I love it, but I don’t think a lot of people would have the patience for it now. And that’s ok.
Unfortunately, Americans mysteriously disappearing in Mexico,
Isn’t a part of History
I can't imagine writing a letter in Chihuahua...
It's hard enough just to do it in Golden Retriever.
LOL
Try writing something with Shitzu.....💩🤢🤮
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel, it's even more difficult to write in Shitzu! 💩
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel, perhaps Bierce should have written home in pidgin and sent it by air mail!😉
Outside of a dog, a book is Man’s Best Friend. Inside of a dog, It’s too dark to read. G. Marx
A Twilight Zone episode, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, was made from this story he wrote.
Yes, episode 22 of season 5 of The Twilight Zone was based on An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannelMy Drama teacher played this episode for us in class, in '81. I was in 9th grade. It has stuck with me ever since. I did not know it was written by Ambrose Bierce. Thanks again for teaching me something new. 😎
I remember reading it, then watching it…they did that with many books we read. Of there was a movie soundtrack off of the book.
Thank you for mentioning this:)
A masterpiece of stream of consciousness writing and American realism. It is really the icon of Bierce's work.
Also, the episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Season 5, Episode 13. Starring Ronald Howard, son of Leslie Howard, who played Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind.
Thank you for bringing Ambrose Bierce’s story to life. When I was a Civil War reenactor I had the privilege to be an extra in the movie “Ambrose Bierce, Civil War Stories”. This movie portrays three of his Civil War short stories including An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and One Kind of Officer.
Many thanks for YOUR post.. I immediately went to Amazon and ordered the last DVD of "Ambrose Bierce, Civil War Stories!" I should receive it in a couple of weeks. 😉👍
@@kennethrouse7942 I hope you enjoy it! I didn’t even know there were still copies out there to buy. I’m in the first short story One Kind of Officer. All of that part was filmed in an old A-10 hanger at the former Richard’s Gebauer Air Force Base in Kansas City. I could tell you so much about how it was made it would take a whole video! But I’ll give you this last nugget. In one scene there is a guy that gets shot by a cannon. It’s me!
It will give me something to look for! I think that they did "..Owl Creek.." on an old Twilight Zone episode, but I am not for sure. As a reinactor, what was your regiment?
@@kennethrouse7942 they did do An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in a Twilight zone episode, but I’ve honestly never seen it.
My unit was the 7th and 30th Missouri Infantry Volunteers also known as the “Irish Brigade”. You didn’t have to actually be Irish to reenact with them, but we did have a couple true Irishmen in our ranks! It was a great unit to be a part of and I miss going out and reenacting. It got difficult to go once I started college and got married.
The original flag of the 7th Missouri is on display at the Missouri state capitol building in Jefferson City.
I do know that Robert Maxwell said that he never could have made "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg" without the hundreds of reinactors of both the Blue and the Gray. I have a suspician that "The Killer Angels" was renamed so the potential viewers could know without any effort what it was about. And it's a shame that enough profit wasn't realized to make "The Last Full Measure" worth it. And, please, DON'T get me started on the "woke" Orwellian renaming of our military Installations south of the Mason-Dixon line! 😢
One of Gregory Peck's last films is "Old Gringo" in which he plays a Bierce to befriends and falls out with a Pancho Villa-like personality (Jimmy Smits).
I agree: great book - great movie. I've been a fan of Bierce for decades, and the book and film are both marvelous.
Adapted from a novel of the same name by Carlos Fuentes. Some of the film was shot in Zacatecas, Mexico--where I have lived for over 20 years.
"About six years before the disappearance of Ambrose Small, Ambrose Bierce had disappeared. Newspapers all over the world had made much of the mystery of Ambrose Bierce. But what could the disappearance of one Ambrose, in Texas, have to do with the disappearance of another Ambrose, in Canada? Was somebody collecting Ambroses?" WILD TALENTS Charles Fort
Well, we made it to the middle of the week. Take a break from work and settle back for an episode of forgotten history.
Because TFE only makes like one video a month
Never heard of this man.....now I'm going to the library!!!
th-cam.com/video/AGogcQ4Wl7I/w-d-xo.htmlsi=KQwOxgKYIvyon1r4
YES❤
Seek 'The Devil's Dictionary' or, more specifically 'The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary.' That's where I started, and I think it really is the best place to begin.
"Killed at Resaca" is my favorite Bierce story
I can't believe you didn't include the most likely reason for his disappearance. That being kidnapped by pirates. Because, after all, don't all good stories...?
I have loved Bierce since I first came across my Granddad's copy of 'The Devil's Dictionary' when I was about 13. I have sought and read his works in the 36 years since then. His writings have allowed me to expand my vocabulary with his glorious style - which made his insults all the more epic. 'The Devil's Dictionary' (technically 'The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary') remains my favorite of his works, and I keep many of his definitions handy: 'POSITIVE (adj): Mistaken at the top of one's voice.'
The Devil's Dictionary is a great work.
A last item of interest: I believe Gregory Peck starred in the movie, Old Gringo, a movie that supposes a possible end of the life of Ambrose Bierce.
I’ve been listening to you for years. I’ve listen to others, but I think you are the best.❤
Wow, thank you!
I teach a unit on Bierce in my senior English class that I affectionately call "What the eff did I just read?"
And unfortunately , Americans mysteriously disappearing in Mexico,
Isn’t a part of History .
LOL!
I would love to take that class!
That would be a great course.
Such good English!
Gregory Peck was utterly charming as the romantic leading man in a love triangle with Jane Fonda as the American woman thrust into the Mexican Civil War and Jimmy Smits as the general in Pancho Villa's army who becomes obsessed with his illegitimate aristocracy. A wonderful classic and a fit role for a fine actor who proved that even in his 70s, he could still charm the pants off of women.
"The Dammed Thing " is the most frightening story i have ever read.
It is at least the equal of Lovecraft's 'The Dunwich Horror.'
You often hear that Bierce influenced Lovecraft: THIS is the story where that influence is evident.
Red Dragon was to date the only story that caused me actual fear. That a lot of it could happen had me checking windows and doors throughout the night. It scarred me so much and so often that once I finished reading it, I passed my copy of it to my older brother so he could share in my misery hahaha.
What I found curious about Bierce's horror was they were set in and around Cincinnati, OH. One was about a haunted house on Vine Street -- in what was then a "suburb" but now the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine.
I started watching this reluctantly, and I enjoyed every minute.
I think we could agree that it was much easier to vanish at the turn of the last century than it is at the turn of this century.
He just walked, plain and simple. Started over new somewhere else and did something many of us have thought about doing a time or two.
That's what I like to think.
I encountered Bierce's stories and The Devil's Dictionary in the early 1960s, when I was in junior high school. As often happened, nobody else knew about him and it was impossible to find somebody to share my enthusiasm for his cynical realism. I recently bought a used copy of collected stories that is among the towering TBR pile(s) and hope to find time and energy enough to revisit and see unfamiliar ones now in my late seventies.
As an "age peer" I wish I had discovered him at that time as you did. I also tip my hat to a fellow book lover who understands, and has, as I do, TBR piles strategically placed around the house. 👍😎
Read on! Right on! Ride on!
I remember 20 some years ago in an american high school history class, our teacher dropped the line that Ambrose said “war is gods way of teaching Americans geography”, it’s odd when you hear something and know in real time how you will never forget it.
Thank you for the Bierce story. I taught both "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "Chickamauga." Bierce himself seems like one of his characters. I hope we will find one day what happened to him...or maybe not...:)
Me dwells 2 miles from Chickamauga Battlefield. We still take silly highly seriously.
As much as Mark Twain was the master of approximation, using words that almost mean what he is saying - for comic effect, Ambrose Bierce was an absolute genius at finding just the exact word in every instance. Bierce's war stories are horrific in their details of military aftermath. His humorous tales are dark and chilling in their own ways. Read "Oil of Dog".
Thank you for the info
I have a Twain T-shirt that reads "The difference between the almost right word and the really right word is no small matter, for it is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning".
@@goodun2974 I think my favorite Twain-ism is how he sums up an excruciatingly frightening occurrence of the sort that would age a normal person a good ten years. Twain said simply, "I was agitated." (Wonderfully dry, understated comment - especially from a period when most American authors were trying to imitate the complex prose of Dickens.)
Thank you History Guy for this remembrance of Bierce. I apparently made it to my mid 50s (including education through college in Indiana) without learning of Bierce and his works. Luckily, learning is a lifelong pursuit. I will be visiting my local bookstore today.
I've always found Bierce's stories fascinating. This is the first time I've found out about his history. Considering his apparent abrasive personality, I'm surprised he didn't disappear sooner. 😁😁😁
😊😅😅😅
Perhaps Bierce, standing on a bridge looking downward, decided it was time to abridge his own story.....and leave his readers hanging! 🤔
I see what you did there.....
What a great tale of an all-American character, Ambrose Bierce.
My grandfather was drilling for oil in Mexico around this time and said that he was driven out of Mexico by Pancho Villa. Perhaps Bierce tried to stay longer and ended up on the wrong side of Villa's war against the US - which eventually included attacks on American civilians.
I started on The Devil's Dictionary many years ago, but could not wade through it. Bierce struck me as what Mark Twain would have been if he had no heart.
Most researchers believe he was killed in or around Poncho Villa's army. IDK. One thing i do know...he wasn't sucked into an interdimensional portal along with Michell-Hedges in Casas Blancas in Chihuahua Mexico ala the lies of Ancient Aliens. Thanks for a well balanced report with actual bio of the gentleman in question. Good job 👍
One of the best American short story writers, and someone I highly recommend. I have read many of his stories throughout the years, and it seems there are some I’ve missed. “Oil of Dog”? Time to start the hunt!
We read the occurrence at owl creek bridge in 8th grade I think.
Great short short, 30yrs later & I still remember the title…
I hope that kids are reading great stuff like this these days in school:)
Sadly, the great stuff has been replaced with "How to Respect Your Neighbor's Pronouns." and the popular and critically acclaimed, "My Teacher Is Non-Binary And Thinks I might Be Too!" and other such nonsensical garbage.
Teaching is no longer the goal, indoctrination is the New Curriculum.
@@RyshusMojo1 boy I hope you’re wrong lol
@@RyshusMojo1lol.
Unfortunately, I don't think so.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192
and unfortunately, Americans mysteriously disappearing in Mexico,
Isn’t a part of History .
bravo sir, I’ve been waiting for a scholarly Ambrose Bierce treatment as I have read all of his supernatural tales, the devil’s dictionary and most of his Civil War stories. He is a fascinating character, thank you.
My favorite bierceism is ----- TRIAL- A formal inquiry designed to prove and put upon record the blameless characters of judges, advocates and jurors. In order to effect this purpose it is necessary to supply a contrast in the person of one who is called the defendant, the prisoner, or the accused. If the contrast is made sufficiently clear this person is made to undergo such an affliction as will give the virtuous gentlemen a comfortable sense of their immunity, added to that of their worth.
I attended the University of Akron for my history and archaeology degrees where they have the Ambrose Bierce Library.
Hey @thehistoryguy when I was in college, several years ago at this point, I took Louisiana history as an elective course. I learned about a low level civil war that took place in Louisiana during reconstruction, which culminated in a battle in New Orleans. You are very good at videos covering obscure topics like this and I would love to see you cover it.
Bierce went out as only Bierce could go out.
And now I must buy more books.
Another historical masterpiece!
Ambrose Beirce has been a favorite author of mine since childhood.
Thank you for bringing him to the attention of a modern audience.
His works deserve to be rediscovered and read.
🌷📖🌷
Chickamauga was also a short film made by the same people who did “0ccurence at Owl Creek “
I cannot help buy wonder if Paul Harvey read works of Ambrose Bierce. Remember Harvey's 1964 commentary "If I Were the Devil" which proved prophetic 60 years later?
Legend has it that around midnight, at a 7 eleven in chihuahua, you can hear the ghost of ambrose bierce gagging on a microwave burrito.
Sounds like a line from a Warren Zevon song ;)
@@typacsk actually its a line i remember from when i was a kid watching johnny carson. They were doing a bit where johnny said something like, on halloween night at the 7 eleven you can hear the ghost of harry houdini gagging on a microwave burrito. I never forgot it and use it when i can.
@@typacsk
Carmelita.
Hold me tighter.
Cause I think I'm sinking down.
And I'm gagging on a microwave burrito.
On the outskirts of town.
(WZ different version)
Great episode, thanks for covering this!
Bierce's What I Saw At Shiloh is one of the best Civil War memoirs of all.
The Difficulty in Crossing a Field is a great short short short story.
Kurt Vonnegut referred to definitions from The Devil's Dictionary frequently in his de-evolutionary novel "Galapagos".
1913 was a rough time to be in Mexico. You might read John Reed's "Insurgent Mexico" for more details. The idea that a foreign journalist would disappear does not surprise me at all.Rodolfo Fierro supposedly murdered a stranger in the Chihuahua city square om a bet as to whether he'd fall forwards or backwards.
"My Favorite Murder" is my favourite short story.
Bierce has always been one of my favorite authors
Oakley Hall wrote a series of historical mysteries set in San Francisco and starring Ambrose Bierce. They are quite a bit of fun.
A very interesting story. Thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you for your wonderful work💚🤗
Excellent thank you. Been waiting for this one.
This was a great story!
Thanks much!
I always enjoy an Abrose Bierce story:)
I live near the site of the first land battle of the Civil War, which Bierce participated
This was a pretty interesting episode! Thank you!
Back in the Saddle Again Naturally
He met The Frito Bandito.
I loved having my Frito Bandito pencil erasers growing up
@@vanroeling2930 I still sing his theme song!
People look at me but I don't care.
Ho ho! What a cad. This episode must stir quite a chuckle amongst your 90-year-old viewers.
Very good report!
I think Bierce would have enjoyed It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He was a master of writing the oblivious protagonist who doesn't know they are really the villain. He was very funny and ahead if his time.
Well done! Thanks for posting this
He, Judge Crater, Amelia Eirhardt, and Jimmy Hoffa are playing Bridge.
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
In short, he was the Andy Rooney of his day.
My brother, in a family group text, called me a curmudgeon; I researched the term a little (for ammunition, as I do) and found that famous, influential Curmudgeons throughout history include Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Twain, Bierce, Oscar Wilde, Carlin, and yes Andy Rooney. There are Curmudgeon Societies (seemingly a contradiction in terms) and an International Curmudgeon Day on January 29th, which upon being informed of this, my brother proclaimed to be my future honorary birthday !
Nobody will be writing about Andy Rooney over a century after his death.
Could you do a story on Don Blanding? He has a very interesting life and death.
Good morning! 👋🏽 😊
Bierce, a man after my own black-humored heart! 😊
My brother called me a curmudgeon in a family text recently; I researched the term ---- looking for ammunition, as I often do😉 ---- and discovered that curmudgeonliness has a long history, including luminaries such as Socrates, Plato, Diogenes, Voltaire, Twain, Bierce, George Carlin and Andy Rooney. There are curmudgeon societies ---- which seems a contradiction in terms ---- and January 29th is International Curmudgeon Day!
PS Kurt Vonnegut referred to definitions from the Devil's Dictionary extensively in his de-evolutionary novel "Galapagos".
Loved this!
Thanks that was interesting.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
And Ernest Hemingway often wrote of characters unaliving themselves. So not out of the realm of possibility that he wanted to leave as an enigma, like his stories.
Thank you History Guy
I initially heard of Ambrose Bierce indirectly, as Stan Kelly-Bootle's enjoyable (but now dated) book _The Devil's DP Dictionary_ (data processing) was supposedly written in the same vein. Have only looked at _The Devil's Dictionary_ briefly, but now that I am retired, I might investigate Bierce's works further. Thanks for this bit of history!
It is interesting that Bierce seemed to foresee our times and did the one thing he could do, to prevent his data and identity from ever being stolen.
ScoutSniper 3124: I agree. Writing in Chihuahua is, frankly impossible, but writing in Golden Retriever is more likely because there is enough room for a hand, and, probably, a writing instrument.
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was an Englush Class in 10th grade. Was it real, was it a dream, did he make it? All the essays were different and interesting. A fun lesson with no true answer. ❤
One thing that I've noticed is that the man in the Union soldier's uniform (4:12 - 6:06) has a distinct cleft chin. However, in the pictures that follow, the cleft chin has disappeared.
Excellent
I'm glad to hear that you're consulted Nickel's book. It covers a number of other interesting topics.
Love your videos
We're a military family from Louisiana, the story passed down was Cardenas shot him, this from my grandfather. I myself am 60, as it was told to me, quite a few boys, especially from the Southern states ether joined the Army or just took pistol, rifle, and horse and just moseyed out looking for adventure and joined with Mexican rebels, which my Grandfathers Uncle did. It's said that other than asking about how the US might see raiding, he was tolerated as a drunk and a little crazy. Villa had no problem with him, but Cardenas didn't like he thought he could say anything. It just happened one morning, and they just threw him on a burro out of the village and that was that, they didn'tknow if he was buried or just shunted off the burro. I believe it, Ambrose Bierce is a strange person to make up stories about....
Thanks!
Thank you!
Interesting. I had never heard this story before.
I love your mug on the top shelf, left side. Twelve O’clock High.👍🏻
Interesting!
Good Wednesday morning History Guy and everyone watching...
He was born in Meigs County, Ohio.
He lived in a small house south of Warsaw In. I live Two miles from where he lived!
When I was 12 I discovered The Devil's Dictionary and Twain's Letters from the Earth. I think they changed my life.
Someone also made a movie about him going off to Mexico to fight vampires…
"From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter." Played by Michael Parks who had also been in the first 2 Dusk Till Dawn movies.
I'm just wondering wether or not the british folk group of the 70's and 80's Prelude , (after the goldrush ) used the title of one of his stories for the title of one of their albums The Owlcreek incident ???
This is a weird story for me. I was born and raised in what was the Western Reserve in Ohio. Then moved to indiana and two of my children were born in Elkhart and I have a brother living there now. That's what you call small world.
Excellent subject and presentation. Not unusual for you, just my two cents.
A little off of the subject but have you considered an episode about a training exercise in preparation for D-Day called Operation, sometimes Exercise, Tiger? It occurred April, 1944 on the Southwest coast of England. It was intercepted by German e-boats and there is still controversy about if navy gunfire killed & wounded troops landing on the beach. It's been questioned if it was a communications breakdown or intended to give the troops a real experience.
Though tragic many lessons were learned in advance of June 6.
Townes Vans Zant would have told you otherwise, just to throw you off the trail, but "Poncho and Lefty" is a about Bierce and Poncho Villa
See Gregory Peck in "The Old Gringo"
Loved it! I had no idea that there were so many versions of Bierce’s disappearance or death. I had heard about the Villa connection, and the sick old man escorted back to the U.S. But otherwise, it was all new info for me. I’ve always wondered, was there any relationship between Bierce and Hurst at the time Bierce purportedly went to Mexico? Perhaps an assignment for the paper? And, are there any existing photos that might show Bierce in Mexico?
We named our first orange tabby cat (many years ago) Ambrose, because we knew of three different Ambroses that had disappeared....Ambrose Bierce is the only one I can remember now, and there's no use asking my wife, she's always had a poor memory. I would like to figure out who the other two were....
Reminds me of Andy Kauffman. Makes me wonder how much Andy had read of Ambrose.