Mark Twain - Reporter: Day By Day

September 21 Wednesday – The following eight local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Street Obstructions,” “The New Poundkeeper,” “Stabbed,” “A Terrible Weapon,” “Judgments Against a Steamship Company,” “Earthquake,” “Out of Jail,” and “Board of Education” [Branch, C of Call 299].

September 22 Thursday – The following eight local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Strike of the Steamer Employes,” “Very Foolish Policy,” “Weller’s Bust,” “The Consequences of Indefiniteness,” “Queer Fish,” “Trial of a Hackman,” “Female Assault,” and “Stabbing Case” [Branch, C of Call 299].

September 23 Wednesday – Joseph E. Lawrence, editor of The Golden Era, wrote Dan De Quille and commented on Sam’s popularity: “They say the Lick House Ladies give Mark Twain a Ball tomorrow evening – Thursday – He’s an immense favorite with them – ever since his description of their June last reunion, which I copy in the GE this week” [From the Collection of The James S. Copley Library, La Jolla, Calif.].

September 23 Friday – The following three local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Farewell Address of Dr. Bellows,” “Arrested for Riot,” and “Dedication of Bush Street School” [Branch, C of Call 299].

September 24 Thursday – In San Francisco, Sam attended the Lick House Ball, held at the popular hotel of the same name [ET&S 1: 313].

September 24 Saturday – The following three local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Ah Sow Discharged,” “Children at the Fair,” and “Ellen French Fined” [Branch, C of Call 299].

September 25 Sunday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to his mother, and sister Pamela that he had been in San Francisco:

September 27 Sunday – The Golden Era reprinted “Mark Twain—More of Him.” Sam added a preface to the older article, “All About the Fashions,” that ran in the Enterprise sometime between June 21 and 24. Another article by Sam appeared in the same edition of the Era, “The Lick House Ball” [ET&S 1: 313-319]. Tom Fitch of the Virginia City Union printed a challenge in that paper to Joe Goodman for a duel, to be held at Ingraham’s Ranch in Stampede Valley at 9 A.M. the next morning [Mack 271].

September 27 Tuesday – The following four local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Boat Salvage,” “A Whale Beached,” “Narrow Escape,” and “Nuisance” [Branch, C of Call 300].

NUISANCE

September 28 Monday – The location of the duel between Goodman and Fitch was kept a secret until the last so as to avoid the law preventing the contest. Sam and “Young” Wilson rode horseback out to Ingraham’s Ranch. Major George Ferrand and Cyrus Brown were seconds for Goodman; Captain Roe and Captain Fleeson served that capacity for Fitch. After shooting Fitch in the leg (rumor had it he’d announced he would not shoot above the waist), Goodman rode off at the appearance of a stagecoach. Fitch would limp for the rest of his life, but they became good friends after the duel [Mack 271-2].

September 28 Wednesday – Sam wrote from San Francisco to Orion and Mollie. He discussed work on a book, which ultimately would become Roughing It, from scrapbooks Orion had kept of the 1861-4 period. He also claimed that Oct. 24 would be the wedding day of Steve Gillis and Miss Emeline Russ “who is worth $100,000, & what is better, is a good, sensible girl & will make an excellent wife” [MTL 1: 315]. Note: Miss Russ decided before that date to marry another.
An article attributed to Sam, “Answer to a Mining Company’s Suit,” ran in the Call [Branch, C of Call 300].

September 29 Thursday – The following four local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Advice to Witnesses,” “Demonstrative Anatomy,” “The Deaf Mutes at the Fair,” and “After Mortimer” [Branch, C of Call 300].

September 3 Thursday – The San Francisco Morning Call published another of Sam’s “Mark Twain’s Letters” (dated Aug. 30). Subheadings: Mass Meetings; The Fire; and, Unfortunate Blunder. This last a sketch of Sam’s about a drunk Irishman in Virginia City who mistook a Presbyterian church service for a Union League meeting [ET&S 1: 284-7].

September 3 Saturday – The following nine local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam:

“California Branch of the U.S. Sanitary Commission,” “Suicide out of Principle,” “Afloat Again,” “The Lost Child Reclaimed,” “A Wrecking Party in Luck,” “Marine Nondescript,” “Labyrinth Garden,” “Contempt of Court,” and “Another Pawnbroker in Trouble” [Branch, C of Call 297].

September 30 Friday – The following six local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “For the Santa Barbara Sufferers,” “The Jewish New Year,” “More Children,” “Robbery,” “Day of Atonement,” and “Dog Theft” [Branch, C of Call 300].

September 4 Sunday – The following eight local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam:
“Opening of the Fair,” “Looks Like Sharp Practice,” “A Terrible Monster Caged,” “The Hurdle- Race Today,” “Domestic Silks,” “The Californian,” “Brutal,” and “Criminal Calendar” [Branch, C of Call 297].

September 4–5 Saturday – In the Enterprise: BIGLER VS. TAHOE

September 5 Saturday – With the return of Dan De Quille, Sam was freed from his duties as the local editor for the Enterprise. He left the same day for San Francisco on the Carpenter & Hoog stage, to Carson City, where he stayed a day with Orion and Mollie [MTL 1: 265; ET&S 1: 291-5].

Years later, De Quille wrote of the conditions in Virginia City upon his return. Sam would return in a few weeks to toil by De Quille’s side. The big fire of 1863 had almost wiped out the town and created a great deal of violence in its aftermath:

September 6 Sunday – Sam left Carson City on the Pioneer Stage for Sacramento with R.W. Billet [ET&S 1: 291-5]. (See Sept. 17 entry.)

September 6 Tuesday – The following nine local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam:
“Peeping Tom of Coventry,” “A Small Piece of Spite,” “A Promising Artist,” “Turned Out of Office,” “Mechanic’s Fair,” “The Pound-Keeper Beheaded,” “A Long Fast,” “Conjugal Infelicity,” and “Set for Wednesday” [Branch, C of Call 297].

September 7 Monday – Sam arrived in Sacramento at 8 A.M [ET&S 1: 295].

September 7 Wednesday – The voters of Nevada approved a new constitution by a margin as large as they’d defeated the earlier one months before, five to one. The main reason for approval was the removal of the tax on mines, making it a tax only on proceeds [Fatout, MT in VC 149].
The following six local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam: “Terrible Calamity,” “Amende Honorable,” “Christian Fair,” “In Bad Company,” “Police Court Sentences,” and “Come to Grief” [Branch, C of Call 297].

September 7 and 8 Thursday – The Democratic State Convention met in San Francisco to nominate candidates for Congress, and also presidential electors pledged to General George B. McClellan.
James Norman Gillis (1830-1907), Steve’s older brother, was a delegate from Tuolumne County, Calif., a mining district in the Sierra foothills. Sam liked James instantly. James enjoyed a good story, was highly literate and trained as a doctor. Sam covered the convention for the Call.

September 8 Tuesday – Sam arrived in San Francisco. He would spend four weeks relaxing and recuperating. He moved in high society, attending the theater, attending balls, and playing billiards at the Lick House [MTL 1: 265]. In his Autobiographical dictation of Jan. 23, 1907 he related first playing his first games of bowling in San Francisco. It may have well been during or shortly after this four-week period; the source, however, gives 1865. See MTA 2: 380-81 for the tale.

September 8 Thursday – The following six local articles in the Call are attributed to Sam:
“Democratic State Convention,” “The Ladies’ Fair,” “Captain Kidd’s Statement,” “Earthquake,” “Mark Mayer Ahead on the Home Stretch,” and “Beautiful Work” [Branch, C of Call 298].