The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-04-23
SALT LAKERS Who
KNEW MARK TWAIN
Two OctogenarianS Tell of Late
HumoriSt'S Career in Ne
Vada Camps.
ROBBED" BY HIS FRIENDS
PosToFFIcE RALLYING PLACE
FOR NARRAToRs OF YARNS.

or the men who had an intimate ac-
qualntance with Samuel L. Clemens
(Mark Twain during the years that
ne faced hardships and endured priva-
lions In the quest of gold in Nevada
and California in the early COS and be-
fore his name had became a household
word, there are probably very few who
lived iong enough to read the account
OF ms passing away last Thursday.
There are two men in Salt Lake
Doth OctOgenarians-who knew the ia
nous humOrist, during the early days
III the Nevada gold fields. who worked
WIN YIN MN, and always kept alive the
friendships formed fifty years ago.
These companions of Mark Twain in
early life are Martin Hardness of 173
West Seventh South and NJ T. Osborn
OF 446 South West Temple street. Both
or these men had an intimate acquafn-
lance with Mark Twain, although Mr..
Hardness probably knew him better,
and has more vivid recollection of
the days they passed in the mining
camp together. In speaking of his
early acquaintance with the humorist
BIZ. Hardness said:
ii first met Mark Twain in the
year 1851 at the mining camp at Au-
rOra, Esmeralda county, situated about
SO miles southwest from Carson CITY
Nevada. He became associated with
Cal HiSbee in a mining prospect.
remember the winters of 1S61-62 were
very cold Our only communication
with the outside world was afforded
by the semi-weekly mail from Carson
city. During the winters / have men
toned we were frequently cut off from
all communication by the heavy snow
and the mails were frequently DELAYED
for a month or six weeks at a time.
Yarns in Postoffice.
During these periods it was pref
" hard matter for us to pass the even
inSs and. having no other place to go,
we used to gather at the pOstoffice 20
tel stories and swap yarns. The post
office was located in the only board
shanty in town, and was about the most
comfortable place in Aurora. Fred
Bechtel, long since dead, was the post
master, and among the names of the
men who used to gather there were
Mark Twain; Judge Boring, who had
been circuit Judge in eastern Tennes-
see; DR.. Mason, who had taught school
in Illinois, and others that l cannot
call TO memory.
In fact they were from all parts
of the country and all good story tell
RS. Each man was given an even
ing, when he was supposed to tell stO-
ries and amuse the crowd, and the
best of feeling prevailed at all times.
Mark Twain fell in with the rest and
when his evening came to entertain
the crowd the pOstOffice used to be
packed. Some stories were real and
some were imaginary, and the gath
1ngS not only renewed the mOnOtOnV
OF the long winter evenings, but they
were the most enjoyable of any 1 have
ever attended.
Mark Tdain, who had been a pilot
on Mississippi river steamboat, used
to relate stories of river life that we
all enjoyed and he in turn seemed to
relish the stories the other members
of the company told. 1 know for a
fact that from the stories he heard
q pna . GA a
deal of the material for the book
"ROughing It," which was shortly aft
erwards published.
He appeared to be of a melancholy
nature, although outwardly he was
bright and cheerful. I could see that
he was in the habit of brooding at
times. 1t was in 1852 that we had q
Fourth of July celebration in Aurora,
and Mark Twain made the grafton,
which was afterwards published in the
Territorial Enterprise.
u believe IL was this that gave him
his start, for he shortly after went
TO Virginia City, where he started TO
write regularly for the Enterprise.
have kept up my acquaintance with
him in all the intervening years, and
have made visits TO him at San Fran
cisco and Hartford. Conn. l believe
he first began to use the nom de plume
of Mark Twain when he was living
at Aurora
Meets "HighWaymen."
NJ T Gisborn's acquaintance with
the humOrist began after he left Au-
rora and when he was living in Vir-
ginia City.
in 1863" SAID Mr.. Osborn, when he
came there soliciting orders from the
mine owners for an amalgamatiOn
process. He stopped at Dick Gaines
who kept a boarding house and sa-
loon just across from it. After a while
he 9gQUirpd a half interest with Will