Bret Harte's "Tennessee's Partner"

Bret Harte’s “Tennessee’s Partner” was almost as difficult for me to read as parts of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. The dialect of Tennessee’s partner and the way the story shifts from Tennessee to Tennessee’s partner took quite a bit of concentration on my part. I would think it would have been difficult for people of the time to have read this, expect for the more educated, due to the exaggerated vocabulary Harte used in his story. Even though I did not find the story to be entertaining personally, I can appreciate its reception during the time period in which it was written.
The friendship of the two men seemed to be the main point of the story. From what western movies I have seen, partnerships and friendships were quite vital and sacred in the frontier days, much more valued than today. I wonder if having been “christened” with the name Tennessee’s Partner motivated the dedication to Tennessee that the partner displayed. Accepting Tennessee with open arms after the affair with his wife and confronting the courts on his behalf with a bribe were signs of a true friend. I felt the funeral monologue was touching and proof of the commitment the partner had for his friend telling of the many times he had saved Tennessee from his mishaps. Even in his death, the partner continues searching out his cohort, this time finding his friend coming for him.
The regional dialect is best exemplified by the partner. “I disremember any sich weather” and “I come yar as Tennessee’s pardner” are simple examples of the language of the area. Also the comment “sez to me, sez you, -confidential-like, and between man and man,-sez you” was an example of the exaggeration of word usage. I believe the wife portrayed a typical regional character. Many of the women working in the saloons and bars were seeking husbands; but I don’t think they were the very committed type. It seemed they were always looking for the one that could provide them with the most. The partner’s wife exuded this trait in that she married the partner, found something more in Tennessee, and then having left him for someone else. Harte used the heat of the Western lands to add nature of the area to the story. From speaking of the heated resinous odors to the many displays of the partner’s use of the handkerchief, one can begin to feel the warmth and the emotions of the story. I, personally, did not find any humor in the story to speak of. Maybe from reading posts I will be able to see the humor Harte used in this story.