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].

February 1 Saturday – In Carson City, Sam wrote and sent ore specimens to his brother-in-law, William A. Moffett [MTL 1: 153].

January 30 Thursday – In Carson City, Sam wrote an account of the trip to Humboldt to his mother [MTL 1: 146-152]. The letter was printed in the Keokuk Gate City on Mar. 6.

My Dear Mother:—

“How sleep the brave who sink to rest,
Far, far from the battle-field’s dreadful array,
With cheerful ease and succulent repast,
Nor ask the sun to lend his streaming ray.”

January, first half – Sam’s excursion to Unionville, in Buena Vista mining district, and back to Carson City by way of Honey Lake Smith’s (a trading post on the road to Carson City) and Virginia City, took all of seven weeks [MTL 1: 150n3]. Sam described this trip in chapters 27-33 of Roughing It and in chapter 27 of Innocents Abroad. travel to the northern regions of the territory was hazardous in January due to heavy rains.

February 18 Wednesday – Sam assigned a “special power of attorney” over his mining interests to Daniel H. Twing [MTL 1: 237n2].

February 5 Thursday – Sam’s “Letter from Carson” ran in the Enterprise and included: Sturtevant & Curry wedding, a murder case, and mining companies, and “The Unreliable”:

January 11–21 Wednesday – Sam’s Enterprise Local Column: “The High Price of Pork” [ET&S 1: 401]. Two litigants spent six or seven hundred dollars litigating ownership of two pigs worth perhaps twenty dollars.

January 1–9 Friday – Sam’s article SULPHUR DEPOSIT appeared sometime between these dates in the Enterprise.

December 30 Tuesday – Sam’s Local Column was published in the Enterprise: “Board of Education,” “Blown Down,” “At Home,” “The School,” “Sad Accident,” “Thrilling Romance,” “Fire Almost,” “Private Party,” and “Our Stock Remarks”:
Owing to the fact that our stock reporter attended a wedding last evening, our report of transactions in that branch of robbery and speculation is not quite as complete and satisfactory as usual this morning [ET&S 1: 175-6].

December 23 Tuesday – Sam’s article dated Dec. 23 ran in the Enterprise sometime later in the month. It was republished in the Placer Weekly Courier of Forest Hill, Placer County on Jan. 17, 1863.
A BIG THING IN WASHOE CITY OR THE GRAND BULL DRIVERS’ CONVENTION
Carson, Midnight December 23d. Eds., Enterprise: