Section 5: From the Rockies and Over the Cascades

Submitted by scott on Tue, 09/20/2016 - 16:58

August 6th, Twain's party departs Missoula on the Northern Pacific railway. This particular train had two special cars attached carrying the newly appointed receiver for the bankrupt railroad and the Supreme Court judge who had appointed him. Twain did not join them. They traveled through the Bitterroot Valley, ancestral home of the Salish people. They passed the site of the "starvation winter" of 1883-1884, and on through the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Section 4: The Rockies

Submitted by scott on Tue, 09/20/2016 - 16:55

Twain's party departed Great Falls at 7:35 am, Thursday, August 1st, 1895. They rode the Montana Central Railway, part of the Great Northern Railroad owned by J.J. Hill. Hill needed to connect his interests in Great Falls with the mining operations in Helena, Butte and the smelter in Anaconda. The railroad followed part of the old Mullan Military Road. Along the way we examine the fate of Egbert Malcolm Clarke and one of the most egregious actions taken by the U.S. Army against Native American peoples, the Marias massacre. Twain gave a lecture that evening in Butte.

Section 3: Across the Prairie

Submitted by scott on Tue, 09/20/2016 - 16:15

Departing the Great Lakes region, July 22, 1895, Twain's party heads for the Great Plains. First though, into an area of tourist attraction, no small part due to to the fantasy world created by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his Song of Hiawatha, Lake Minnetonka and Minnehaha Falls. Twain gave lectures in Minneapolis July 23rd and 24th, rested on the 25th then headed to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Returning from Winnipeg, July 28, they traveled through "that wonderful wheat ocean" and stopped in Crookston, Minnestoa. Twain's name is the first in the register of the Crookston Hotel.

Section 2: The Great Lakes Region

Submitted by scott on Mon, 09/19/2016 - 09:44

Mark Twain left Cleveland, Ohio July 17 on board the SS Northland. They sailed across Lake Erie to the Detroit River, across Lake St Clair and along the St. Clair River. July 18th they crossed Lake Huron and landed in Sault Ste. Marie. Here he gave his third lecture of the tour. On July 19th, they took the sreamboat F.S. Faxton to Mackinac Island for a lecture in the Grand Hotel. On July 20th, Twain and Major Pond traveled to Petoskey, Michigan by boat and train, the Northern Arrow. Petoskey is the site of the extermination of the last major breeding colony of passenger pigeons, in 1878.

The Reverend Twichell Votes for Grover Cleveland

Submitted by scott on Mon, 07/11/2016 - 16:39

An excerpt from Volume 1 of The Autobiography of Mark Twain. An example of peer pressure for toeing the party line. Sam Clemens and Joe Twichell, rather than vote for the Republican candidate, Blaine, vote Democratic for Grover Cleveland. Voting is public and Reverend Twichell risks loosing his ministry.

Following the Equator - Chapter XXVII

Submitted by scott on Mon, 05/16/2016 - 09:50
The Governor's Proclamation

Twain spends much of Chapter 27 discussing the harshness of the environment, particularly in terms of convicts trying to escape a penal colony at Macquarrie Harbor and the efforts of George Augustus Robinson in bringing in the last of the native Tasmanians to “civilization”. Twain thinks very highly of Robinson's efforts but also seems to realize that his efforts were in vain and in fact brought about the destruction of these people.

Following the Equator - Chapter XXVI

Submitted by scott on Sun, 04/17/2016 - 00:54
The Faculty Read Up

An unexpected visit by a visiting professor from New Zealand causes the faculty of Yale to take a cram course in all aspects of New Zealand so as not to cause offense.

Following the Equator - Chapter XXV

Submitted by scott on Sat, 02/27/2016 - 12:39
Do You Remember That Trip?

The identity of Mr.Blank, the influential Irishman of chapter 25, is a mystery. Miriam Shillingsburg published an article on him in the Mark Twain Journal in 1993. Ms.Shillingsburg theorizes that Mr. Blank is one of three possible candidates. None of them are Mr. Charles Casey of Pollerton Castle, Carlow, Ireland. It was with Mr. Casey that Sam Clemens had correspondence, May 15, 1876.:

“Of course I don't know what you hold, but I “call” you anyway! This being translated means: Tell me about this thing. Really & truly, now, is there a Twain Club?”