May 4 Wednesday – Now a full pilot, Sam left St. Louis on the Alfred T. Lacey, copiloted by Bart
Bowen (brother of Sam and Will Bowen), under Captain John P. Rodney, for New Orleans. “A
pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the
earth” [LM; MTL 1: 14].
Isaiah Sellers’ letter to the New Orleans Picayune:
Vicksburg, May 4, 1859.
My opinion for the benefit of the citizens of New Orleans: The water is higher this far up than it has

May 8 Sunday – Sam used the pen name of “Sergeant Fathom” and wrote a piece parodying Isaiah
Sellers, the river’s “only genuine Son of Antiquity” [LM, Ch. 50]. Sellers had been a fixture on the
Mississippi since Missouri became a state. He wrote “river intelligence” for various newspapers.
According to Andrew Hoffman, Sam thought Sellers was “egotistical, long-winded, and incapable of
trimming a tale to his audience—the last sin unforgivable in Sam’s eyes” [58]. No story another pilot

May 10 Tuesday – Alfred T. Lacey arrived in New Orleans.

May 14 Saturday – Alfred T. Lacey left for St. Louis.

May 17 Tuesday – Sam’s Isaiah Sellers satire “River Intelligence” was published in the New Orleans
Crescent, signed by “Sergeant Fathom.” Sellers were so offended he vowed never again to write for
the newspapers [ET&S 1: 126]. Sam would use “Sellers” as the name of his main character in the
Gilded Age, another know-it-all, if somewhat more sympathetic.

May 21 Saturday – Alfred T. Lacey arrived in St. Louis.