This tale was read by request. As Ambrose Bierce was a friend/adversary of Mark Twain, both were journalists in San Francisco, I felt it appropriate for SLClemens to present it at The Deck in Second Life. The recording was made April 25, 2011. It was recorded as a screencast using gtk-recordMyDesktop. This program produces an ogv file. I then split this into it's audio and video tracks using oggSplit, then processed them with PiTiVi and rendered the project as an ogv file.

The journey west by stage has ended. Sam and Orion arrive in Carson City. He sees a gunfight, the afternoon wind storm, and the native tarantulas. The local architecture also provides Sam with some entertainment.

Mark and company depart Salt Lake City with many questions left unanswered. Of particular interest is just who was responsible for the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The party arrives in Overland City and find they need to adjust to the local prices.

I found this chapter to be too tedious to read in public. It is included here for the sake of providing the entire edition of Roughing It, as printed in the first edition. This chapter is merely Mark criticizing portions of the Mormon Bible with very large portions quoted. I would have read his sardonic portions but the "quoted" portions were just too long.

The complications of polygamy.

A demonstration of Brigham Young's authority is illustrated by example. Mark's reaction to polygamy.

Mark and party arrive in Salt Lake City. He is impressed by the industry and cleanliness of the place. He takes part in a meeting with Brigham Young.

The War Prayer is a powerful piece of writing not generally mentioned in lists of works by Mark Twain. It was written in 1904, after the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War. It is one reflection of Twain's well known distain for American Imperialism. The piece was not published until after Twain's death due to pressure from both his publisher and family. It is said that when requested to publish it he said: "No, I have told the whole truth in that, and only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead."

Mark enters into the Rocky Mountains on their way to Salt Lake City. His descriptions of the scenery are enough to recommend this chapter.

The Division Superintendent becomes too much for the general population. He is arrested, tried and executed. Mark speculates on the nature of courage in light of the manner of Slade's execution. His pleading for mercy appears as a contradiction to previously displayed courage.

We are introduced to a rather notorious Division Agent, Slade. His adventures related here were perhaps too violent for some of the attending audience at this reading. Several vanished before it was through.

Mark now finds himself in Indian Country and becomes very apprehensive. However, the only violence he personally encounters is between station personnel and a stagecoach driver.

Mark has a brief encounter with a Pony Express rider. He discovers alkali water which somehow elevates him above the folks back home, experiencing the unusual. This he equates with site seers in the Alps venturing onto heights where they should not be.

Mark's traveling companion, Bemis, has an amazing escape from a buffalo. Believe it or not.

We hear of how the stagecoach business is run, its hierarchy of personnel and how discipline is maintained. We are also treated to an anecdote from Mark's journey in the Holy Land.

This chapter is remarkable to me as it is the first display of Mark's bigotry against Native Americans. One often hears charges of racism and the use of a particular offensive word when thinking of Mark Twain but little is ever said of his disdain for Indians.