Mark Twain’s experience with Watson’s Hotel:
There is a rank of noble great shade trees across the way from the hotel, and under them sit groups of picturesque natives of both sexes; and the juggler in his turban is there with his snakes and his magic; and all day long the cabs and the multitudinous varieties of costumes flock by. It does not seem as if one could ever get tired of watching this moving show, this shining and shifting spectacle . . . .

July 30 Tuesday
- Another travel day, interesting as witnessed by Sam's notebook and Pond's diary:
J.B. Pond's diary:

The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S. The Great Northern was built in stages, slowly to create profitable lines, before extending the road further into the undeveloped Western territories.

The St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway

The St. Paul and Duluth Railroad was reorganized from the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad in 1877. It was bought by the Northern Pacific in 1900. Known to this day as the "Skally Line", it operated from Saint Paul to Duluth, Minnesota, with branches to Minneapolis, Taylors Falls, Kettle River, and Cloquet, in Minnesota, and Grantsburg and Superior in Wisconsin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_and_Duluth_Railroad

On Lake Superior; S. S. Northwest. Major Pond was on deck early and found the smoke all gone. In its place was bright sunshine, but so cold all day that few of the other passengers were on deck. The ship was running eight hours late. They landed in Duluth at just 9 p.m. Mr. Briggs, the correspondent, met them at the wharf with a carriage.

As the boat neared land Briggs shouted:

"Hello, Major Pond!"

"Hello, Briggs!"

"Is Mark Twain all right?"

"Yes; he is ready to go to the hall; he will be the first passenger off the ship."

A PACKED HOUSE. AND MANY TURNED AWAY. Mark Twain's Entertainment at the Grand Opera House Last Night. An audience which packed the Grand opera house from the orchestra railing to the top row of the rear gallery greeted Mark Twain when the curtain rose last night. Every seat was sold and over a hundred chairs were brought in to try to accommodate those who wished to see America's great humorist, and even then many were turned away. It was the largest, the most cultured, and the best audience ever seen in Petoskey, the receipts being $524.

Petoskey was the location of the extermination of the last huge breeding colony of passenger pigeon. A state historical marker commemorates the events, including the last great nesting in 1878. That summer, the breeding colony of Pigeons arrived near Crooked Lake. The flock covered 40 square miles and for three months yielded over 50,000 birds a day to hunters. One hunter reportedly killed 3,000,000 of the birds and according to one account earned $60,000. Records estimate between 10-15 million slaughtered.

The Northern Arrow was one of the named passenger trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad serving St. Louis, Missouri, Cincinnati, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It used the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, a leased subsidiary of the Pennsylvania system. The train was frequented by northbound travelers to popular Northern Michigan destinations north of Grand Rapids, Michigan, such as Petoskey, Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island.