On February 16, 1857, Sam Clemens took passage from Cincinnati, Ohio on board the packet Paul Jones, piloted by Horace Bixby. Somewhere along the journey Bixby agreed to teach Sam to pilot a Mississippi River Boat. On March 4, 1857, they departed New Orleans on board the Colonel Crossman with Horace as pilot and Sam as his cub pilot. On May 4, 1859 Sam would be a pilot on the Alfred T. Lacey. By May of 1861 Sam's career as a pilot would end.