The Fiji Islands

From Diary:—For a day or two we have been plowing among an invisible vast wilderness of islands, catching now and then a shadowy glimpse of a member of it. There does seem to be a prodigious lot of islands this year; the map of this region is freckled and fly-specked all over with them. Their number would seem to be uncountable. We are moving among the Fijis now—224 islands and islets in the group.

Victoria

Clemens, Clara, and Olivia aboard the S.S. Warimoo. Victoria, British Columber. August 23, 1895
Clemens aboard the S.S. Warimoo. Victoria, British Columber. August 23, 1895
S.S. Warimoo sailing for Australia, August 23, 1895

Departing Victoria

Mark Twain Archive, Elmira College courtesy of Kevin Mac Donnell, Austin, Texas.

Whatcom

Twain had a bad cold and his throat was in poor condition, but he lectured at the Lighthouse Theater, the fourth floor of a building with no fire escapes.


The Cascadia Daily News, in an article about a Mark Twain statute sitting on a park bench, reports he stayed at The Fairhaven, a Victorian Hotel that was at 12th and Harris.  The statute is one of Gary Price's Mark Twain III.

Kalama Ferry

[From: The Pacific Railroad Preservation Association]

The Northern Pacific line from Tacoma to Kalama began service January 5, 1874 and included runs between Portland and Kalama by steamboat on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers.

The Northern Pacific Railway - Tacoma to Kalama

Kalama was entirely a Northern Pacific railroad creation. It was unofficially born in May 1870 when the Northern Pacific railroad turned the first shovel of dirt. Northern Pacific built a dock, a sawmill, a car shop, a roundhouse, a turntable, hotels, a hospital, stores, homes. In just a few months in 1870, the working population exploded to approximately 3500 and the town had added tents, saloons, a brewery, and a gambling hall. Soon the town had a motto: "Rail Meets Sail".

Subscribe to