The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-05-27
A NARROW ESCAPE.
MARK TWAIN's EXPERIENCE AS
POCKET MINER IN CALIFORNIA.
A Blue Nose and Chilled Spinal Coiuihh
Lead to the Discovery of the
jumping Frog What
Might Have Been.
ALTA California;

[Alta California;
Mark Twain's narrow escape from becom-
ing pocket miner has never been told.
is worth recording, as it gave him the story
of the jumping Frog" and sent him OH
along the line of the literary lode and set
him to scratching therein for pockets OF run
In 1865 Mark wearied of Bohemian lie In
San Francisco and went up into the mining
regions of Calaveras county to rustlcate
with some old friends-Steve, Jim, and
Billy Gillis jim ellis was, and still is, one
of the most expert pocket miners In Callfor-
MIA. Although educated with view event
ually to fight the battle of life as physl
clan, and though still finding solace in his |
leisure moments in the works of Greek and |
Latin authors reposing on a shelf in his
cabin, Jim ellis is booked for
life as a pocket miner The business
has charms for him that he can not break
away from-he is bound to it in chains OF
gold. Show him particle of quartz gold
on the side of a mountain, and if it came to
where it was found through the process or
accidents of nature undisturbed in any way
| by the interference of man, he will as un-
| erringly trace it to its source as the bee
|
| sweets.
Mark Twain found the Bohemian style of
| mining practiced by the "GilIis boys" much
| more attractive thaa those more regular
| kinds which call for a large outlay of
| muscle. He and Jim ellis took to the hills
in search of golden pockets and spent some
days in working up the undlsturDed
trail of an undiscovered deposit. They
l ybn
stuck to it faithfully, though it was
necessary to carry each sample of dirt to
small stream in the bed of canyon IN
order to pan it out Each step made sure by
golden grains, they at last came upon the
pocket which had thrown these grams off.
1t was cold, dreary, drilling day when
the "home deposit" was found. The first
sample carried to the stream and washed
out yielded but few cent. Although the
, right vein had teen discovered they had as
yet found but the tail end" of the pocket,
Returning TO the vein they dug sample
from a new place, and were about to carry
it down to the ravine and test it when the
rain began to pour down heavily. With
chattering teeth Mark declared ne would re-
q main no longer. He said there was no sense
In freezing to death, as in day or two
when it was bright and warm, they could re
turn and pursue their Investigations in com
, fort.
a Yielding to Marks entreaties, backed a.
= they were by his blue nose, bumped bach
q and generally miserable and detected ap
4 pearance Jim emptied the sacks of dirt upoI
: the ground, first having hastily written and
+ posted up a notice of their claim to GER
y tain number of feet on the vein, which no
+ tice would hold good for thirty days. Angels
L camp being at no great distance from TIL
v spot, while their cabin was some miles away
y Mark and Jim struck out out for that place
The only hotel in the little mining camp wa
r kept by one Coon Drayton, an old MSslsS
/ ippi river pilst, and at his house the half
O drunken pocket miners found shelter. Mar
Twain having formerly the bushes
II of pilot on the Mississippi river, he and Coo
IA were soon great friends and snapped score
$ of yarns 1t continued to rain for thre
IS days, and until the weather cleared up Mar
IF and Jim remained at Coon's hotel.
ID The-story of the jumping Frog" was on
g. Of the yarns told Mark by Coon during til
,f three days session, and it struck him as be
ID ing so comical that he determined to writ
To it up When he returned to the ellis cabin
re- Mark set to work upon the frog story. Il
of also wrote some sketches of life in the mour
o tains and mines for some of the San Frau
cisco papers. Mark did not think much {
the frog story, even after it had receive
the finishing touches. He gave the prefe
hs ence to some other sketches and sent thel
1T to the papers for which he was writing
ma Steve ellis, however, declared that the fro
al story was the best thing Mark lad writtel
on and advised him to save it for book
ke sketches he was talking of publishing.
ar literary turn having been given to IL
az thoughts of the inmates of the ellis cabi
ON month passed without return to the bu:
of ness of pocket mining
av While the days were passed by Mark NJ
rst his friends in discussing the merits Of Il
ay jumping Frog" and other literary matter
,be other prospectors were not idle. trio
aw Austrian miners who were out in search
.he gold bearing quartz happened upon the So
asst where Mark and Jim had dug into the
Of ledge 1t was but few days after Twa
The and ellis had reiterated from the place
in the pouring rain The Austrians were moi
m little astonished st seeing the ground glitt,
nto ing with gold,
Where the dirt emptied from the sac
had been dissolved and washed away by t
rain, lay some three ounces of bright qua
gold. The foreigners were not long in ga
ont ering this. but the speedy discovery of I
hat notice forbade their delving into the depc
,nla whence it came. They could only wait a
de. swatch and pray" This hope was ii
ion the parties who had posted up the not
,wn would not return while it held good. ]
tho sun that rose on the day after the Twa
obt ellis notice expired saw the Austrians
tn possession of the ground, with notice
their own conspicuously and defan
posted. The new owners cleaned cut
pocket, obtaining from it, in a few days
ven little over 81, 500.
ats Had Mark Twain's backbone held GU
He little longer the sacks of dirt would hs
rm- been washed and the grand discovery ma
a He would not have then gone to Ang
camp and would probably never have he
or written the story of the jumping Fro
the story that gave him his first boost
the literary world, as the Heather Chin
1ter' gave Bret Harte his first lift up the ladt
|: Had Mark found the gold that was captu
At to by the Austrians, he would have set
$ to down as a pocket miner. He would ne
an have given up the chase, and till this d
y III gray as a badger, he would have been pou
con- ing quartz, with Jim ellis for his "pard
lett a cabin somewhere in the Sierra New