Samuel Clemens never set foot in the state of Texas. He never lectured there. He never crossed Texas on his way to somewhere else.

How did Clemens come into possession of 320 acres in Archer County, Texas--a piece of property that apparently held little interest for him? Until 1875 that part of rolling rangeland had been home to Indians and few settlers. By 1880, the year Archer County was officially organized and barbed wire introduced, the population hovered at a meager 596 people. W. W. Duren was correct in describing Clemens's property as "nothing but a Stock Country" and Clemens's land was probably unfenced and was being grazed whether or not Clemens had ever previously received compensation for those grazing rights.

See LIVY, WILL YOU BUY ME A HOME IN TEXAS?, a special feture by Barbara Scmidt