Mark Twain Riverboat

The riverboat as seen in Disneyland with Big Thunder Mountain in the background

**The Mark Twain Riverboat** or **S.S. Mark Twain** is a steamboat in the Disney Parks mythology which doubles as an attraction at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.

## Background

The Mark Twain Riverboat was a a paddlewheel steamboat during the 19th century. It traveled along several rivers of America such as the Rio Grande, Mississippi and Thunder Mesa's, "Rivers of the Far West" with the riverboat being known to transport Thunder Mesa's citizens to neighbouring towns in the Big Thunder region such as Rainbow Ridge, Stillwater Junction and Tumbleweed. It is known to have operated as far back as the frontier days of the American west and as late as the 1920s.

Around the 1850s, the Mark Twain Riverboat was captained by a man named Rowan D. Falls. Rowan came to fall in-love with the town belle of Thunder Mesa, Mélanie Ravenswood who was the heiress of the Big Thunder Mining Company. However, Mélanie's father Henry Ravenswood was a vile and possessive man who murdered Rowan for his courting of Mélanie, sending him in a rowboat off the side of a waterfall.

The riverboat takes its name from real-life author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known for his pen-name of Mark Twain. It should be noted that, "Mark twain" is also a nautical term meaning, "Mark number two" in reference to recording the number of fathoms of a given river and Samuel having named himself after this term from his own time as a steamboat sailor. Whether the boat is named for the term or the author in-lore is unknown but if it is named for the author then it is likely it would not have been given this name until c. 1877 when Clemens published his first successful book.

## Appearances and allusions

### Fantasmic!

During the nighttime show *Fantasmic!* in Disneyland, the Mark Twain is used to represent the Steamboat Willie from the 1928 Disney cartoon of the same name. It holds a great number of Disney and Pixar characters on it while being captained by a rubber-hose Mickey Mouse.

### Main Street, U.S.A.

There is an advertisement for the Mark Twain Riverboat mentioning the Rivers of the Far West in Disneyland Paris' Main Street.

### Mark Twain Riverboat

This attraction takes guests upon the Mark Twain Riverboat to travel the Rivers of America in Disneyland and the Rivers of the Far West in Disneyland Paris.

#### Sights and Features

##### Disneyland

	+ While passing by this attraction, the captain tells part of the story behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
* Big Thunder Falls:

### Phantom Manor

The riverboat is seen in a portrait in the stretching room of Phantom Manor, behind Captain Rowan D. Falls and Mélanie Ravenswood. Rowan is a character within this attraction. The riverboat has also been used to hold figures of Thunder Mesa during their reopening of Ravenswood Manor.

### Thunder Mesa Daily Messenger

The Mark Twain Riverboat is frequently mentioned in this newspaper in stories and advertisements.

## Trivia

* The Walt Disney World counterpart to the attraction is the Liberty Belle Riverboat which is set in the late-1850s/early-1860s and which is narrated by historic figures Captain Horace Bixby (1826-1912) and Sam Clemens himself.
* The agent of the Mark Twain by the 1880s is named S.L. Clemens as a tribute to the historic Mark Twain.

## References

1. ↑ http://disneyshawn.blogspot.com/2011/06/every-nook-cranny-tells-story.html