February, mid – Between mid-February and the end of July, 1862, Sam wrote several letters (the exact number is unknown; none survive) he signed, “Josh” to the Virginia City Enterprise—including Story of an old horse; Chief Justice George Enoch Turner‘s (1828-1885) oratory; burlesque Fourth of July. Sam also wrote descriptions of mining claims until August. Sam was not paid for these letters, but William H. Barstow of the Enterprise business office noticed them and was instrumental in getting Sam hired on as a reporter [Rasmussen 264; MTL 1: 201n8]. Note: this last source gives April as “about the time Sam began writing the [Josh] letters.”
In his Oct. 2, 1906 A.D. Clemens recalled writing the spoof of a Judge Turner speech, which was published in the Enterprise, followed by Sam being offered the city editorship while the editor was away on a two month trip east—a development Sam attributed to one of his luckiest accidents [AMT 2: 238-9].