January 19 Tuesday – The election was held and Orion won the Secretary of State office. But the electorate, putting Nevada’s statehood in doubt, rejected the new constitution. Fatout describes the scene in Virginia City: Voting day was a carnival in Virginia. Business houses closed, and the holiday spirit brought on a number of good fights, one of the best being a brisk encounter in which a butcher attempted to decapitate his adversary with a cleaver. His aim was poor….Band wagons, representing both sides, rolled around town all day, musicians playing “John Brown’s Body,” “Hail Columbia,” “Yankee Doodle.” Decorating the wagons were garish slogans: “Vote the Constitution and Union,” “Vote Down the Constitution and Taxation,” “Down with the one lead party, Bill Steward and the other Politicians, “White Men vote anywhere—Niggers can’t.” At night a huge transparency opposite Stewart’s law office depicted the burial of the constitution [MT in VC 147]. Sam’s article on schools was published in the Enterprise this day or the next [ET&S 1: 333].

January 19 or 20 Wednesday – Sam wrote “Letter from Mark Twain,” from Carson City (dated Jan. 14) about schools. The description of “Miss Clapp’s School” is quite similar to the “Examination Evening” scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Ch. 21 [ET&S 1: 333-8].