The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-04-22
SAMUEL /. CLEMENS.

custom then among tie printers ST.
Louis. Cincinnati, Philadelphia and
New York We're among the cities hc
visited IN his Wanderings In 1851 his
love of home and the river drew him
westward again and he became n
Z pilot on the Mississippi. although only
IL years old AT that time. He fol-
\ lowed that vocation for 10 years. dur
/ ing mat time accumulating material
\ which he was eventually to turn tn
literary account. The pen name which
7 he selected at the beginning of his
literary career If u reminder of his
I pilot days Many time, under the
glarlng sun and under the starry sky
Mark Twain" called by the men
making the soundings. came 10 Sam
'ieTs ear. while lie stood at his post
~ the little pilot house. That call,
\ often repeated in the course Of his
; countless trips, meant that sounding
I had shown depth of ~ feet. a safe
depth for the shallow river steam
ers
4 The outbreak of the war in 1861 de-
stroyod the river business and Samuel
i Clemens found himself practically
\ without occupation In the spring of
that year the young pilot Joined n
confederate volunteer squad but he
was moi destined To win laurels upon
the battlefield. In fact. he never saw
active service AS his occupation was
gone. he decided 10 20 to Nevada. thea
( a territory. of which his brother orion
was secretary. under appointment by
President Lincoln Samuel became
the clerk OF his brother. but soon
drifted into newspaper work For Il
snort Tine he was city editor Of the
virginia city Enterprise, In which
i paper his first sketches appeared
/ aftorMafd he Went Ia san Francisco.
where he worked as a reporter on the
Morning can After a short time he
tried placer mining for gold in Cal
averas county. picking up great
I deal of valuable experience. but little
gold, Clemens returned To newspaper
4 work and. ~ the spring OF 1856 be-
! came interested with Bret Harte in
I the conduct of the Alta Californian.
y was about that time that he wrote
4 his first humorous sketches and be-
] came locally known as a humorst.
Writes Descriptions.
In 1866 Clemens sailed for Honolulu
and wrote descriptions Of the life and
conditions there for the Sacramento
4 Union. on his return he Travelled
/ through the west, giving humorous
lectures on his experience in Nevada
! ana Honolulu. In March. 1867, he
published In New York his first book,
The Jumping Frog Of calayeras
| County and Other Sketches" The sue
/ cess Of this book encouraged the ed
ltor of the Alta Californian To send
1 Clemens out as newspaper reporter
with a steamship excursion 10 south
ern Europe and the orient. His let
ters dealing with the journey and his
/ various experiences on the trip made
quite a hit ana in 1863 Clemens re-
yised his letters and published them
in book form, under the title OF The
Innoeents Abroad, or the New Pill
grim's Progress" This book. which
was afterward translated into nearly
every European language, esta bllshed
Mark Twain's" international repu-
tation az humorist In 1872 he coll
lected his "reminiscences of far western
! life into book, entitled "Roughing
It." In the following year he coll
/ laborated with Charles Dudley In a
novel, entitled "The Gllded Age"
+ which was afterward successfully
dramatized
In 1876 he published The Adven-
tnres of Tom Sawyer" In which he
portrayed the irresponsible American
boy with remarkable insight and hu-
NOR \ second trip 10 Europe. in 1879
furnished him with material for the
book, a Tramp Abroad which was
published In 1850. His next book,
The Prince and the Paupor," which
WAS Mark Twalns first attempt at
historical fiction, was published N
1882. The following year he published
Life on the Mississippi River" based
on his own experience as river pilot.
which by many Is considered his best
book.
In 1854 he engaged in the publishing
enterprise Of Charles l.. Webster X
Co, the failure of which swallowed
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