Mary Hallock Foote
Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) was an accomplished American author and illustrator, notable for her evocative depictions of the American West. Born in New York and raised in a Quaker household, Foote developed her artistic skills at the School of Design at Cooper Union. In 1876, she married mining engineer Arthur DeWint Foote and began a journey that would see her live in several Western states, including California, Colorado, and Idaho. Foote’s literary career took off after she published her first short story in 1879, and she became well-known for her works that captured the challenges and beauty of frontier life.
Her first novel, *The Led-Horse Claim: A Romance of a Mining Camp*, was published in 1883, and she went on to write eight novels and several short story collections throughout her career. The isolation of rural California initially spurred her creative pursuits as she balanced her roles as a mother and a writer. In the later years of her life, Foote moved to Massachusetts, where she continued to write until her passing in 1938. Her legacy endures through her vivid storytelling and contributions to American literature, particularly in capturing the essence of life in the West.
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Subject Terms
Mary Hallock Foote
Author
- Born: November 19, 1847
- Birthplace: Near Milton, New York
- Died: June 25, 1938
Biography
Mary Hallock Foote was born in 1847 in New York. Raised by devout Quaker parents, Foote grew up on a farm near the Hudson River. She attended the School of Design at Cooper Union in New York City for three years, and she mastered the art of woodcut illustration there. She then married a mining engineer, Arthur DeWint Foote, in 1876. They had one son together.
An author and illustrator, Foote became known for her tales of the Wild West. She started out doing artwork on commission and publishing her pieces in magazines. She moved to California with her husband in the late 1870’s. Finding herself isolated in rural California, Foote devoted herself to her art and writing. The young family eventually moved to Santa Cruz. In 1878, Foote returned to her parent’s home in New York, and then in 1879 rejoined her husband, this time in Leadville, Colorado. Foote’s first short story was published after her move to Colorado in the journal Scribner’s Monthly. Her first novel, The Led-Horse Claim: A Romance of a Mining Camp, was published in 1883. Foote continued writing and illustrating as her family moved from Colorado to Mexico and from Mexico to Idaho. The Footes finally settled in Grass Valley, California, in 1895. Foote decided to put aside her illustration work to focus solely on writing; she wrote eight novels and published four short-story collections during this time. After thirty years in California, in 1932 Foote and her husband moved to Massachusetts, where she died six years later.