July 5 Sunday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Elisha Bliss, advising him of staying over one steamer (from June 30 to July 6) “in order to lecture & so persecute the public for their lasting benefit & my profit” [MTL 2: 233].
Sam also wrote Mary Mason Fairbanks about the successful “Venice” lecture. This time the reviews of the papers were unanimously favorable.
July 3 Friday – Sam called at the steamship office to buy his ticket for July 6. The steamship company refused to let him pay, insisting that he be their guest, such was his notoriety and popularity in the region [Sanborn 397].
July 2 Thursday – Sam had planned on leaving June 30, but was enticed to one final lecture. He gave a lecture titled, “The Oldest of the Republics—Venice: Past and Present,” at the New Mercantile Library on Bush Street in San Francisco [Fatout, MT Speaking 25-6]. “As usual, the audience was large and fashionable, and was so enthusiastic, that afterward he felt ‘some inches taller’ ” [Sanborn 397].
July – Sam’s article “By Rail through France” ran in the July issue of the Overland Monthly [Camfield, bibliog.]. This was the first issue of the magazine with Bret Harte as editor. The publication was in tune with the pioneering spirit of excitement in California. Harte’s story, “The Luck of Roaring Camp,” appeared in the magazine’s second edition, propelling Harte to nationwide fame.
June 30 Tuesday – Sam dated advertising this day for the coming lecture—an elaborate handbill of protests for him not to speak, listing prominent citizens; his objections; and a final directive by the chief of police that he should go [Sanborn 397; MTL 2: 233n1].
June 28 Sunday – The Daily Memphis Avalanche, p. 1, ran “Mark Twain on Female Suffrage.”
Mark Twain on Female Suffrage.
“Mark Twain’ writes to his “Cousin Jennie” on the subject of “Female Suffrage,” as follows:
June, late – Sam renewed his friendship with Steve Gillis, now married and living on Bush Street. He also spent time with Bret Harte, editor of the newly founded Overland Monthly, a literary magazine. Harte was on the verge of fame for his own stories, “The Luck of Roaring Camp” appearing that year, and “Outcasts of Poker Flats” the next.
June 23 Tuesday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Elisha Bliss.
“The book is finished, & I think it will do. It will make more than 600 pages, but I shall reduce it at sea. I sail a week hence, & shall arrive in New York in the steamer Henry Chauncey, about July 22. I may tarry there a day or two at my former quarters (Westminster Hotel,) & then report at Hartford” [MTL 2: 232].
June 18 Thursday – Sam’s article, “ANOTHER OLD CALIFORNIAN GONE” appeared in the San Francisco Daily Dramatic Chronicle [Fatout, MT Speaks 56-7].
June 17 Wednesday – Sam wrote from the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco to Mary Mason Fairbanks. He had read a few of the scathing reviews of his “Pilgrim” speech by ministers and others.