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88 Days in the Mother Lode: Mark Twain Finds His Voice
Mark Twain in 1867
In the fall of 1864 Samuel Clemens felt that he was a failure. Recently fired from a newspaper job he didn't like anyway, he had failed as a gold miner, a silver miner, a lumber baron, a soldier and by now he was destitute. He couldn't pay for his room and board and was living off his landlady. He posted $500 bail for a friend, Steve Gillis, with money he didn't have, and Gillis skipped town. Stuck in San Francisco without options, he considered suicide as his only way out.
Jim Gillis, Steve's older brother, offered him a sanctuary. He suggested Clemens join he and fellow gold miners at Gillis' small cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Away from town, away from his critics, and away from forever looming deadlines, it appealed to Clemens. So the two men took a steamboat from San Francisco to Stockton and then traveled to Gillis' cabin in Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County.
For the next three months, the men drank a little, smoked a little, worked a little, mined a little, read a little, and passed the time telling stories. Jim Gillis was an educated man and a great story teller. Clemens sat and listened, quietly smoking his pipe and watched as Gillis stood in front of the fireplace and recounted story after hilarious story, which had his small audience in stitches.
Taking a break from mining, on a rainy January day in early 1865, the men entertained themselves at the Angels Hotel in nearby Angels Camp. Sam heard an interesting story told in a rather dull way by Ben Coon, one of the bartenders. He jotted a note in his journal as he had done with so many other stories he'd heard. Later that year, he developed that story and it became "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and would launch Samuel Clemens' career as humorist Mark Twain.
Jim Gillis, Steve's older brother, offered him a sanctuary. He suggested Clemens join he and fellow gold miners at Gillis' small cabin in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Away from town, away from his critics, and away from forever looming deadlines, it appealed to Clemens. So the two men took a steamboat from San Francisco to Stockton and then traveled to Gillis' cabin in Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County.
For the next three months, the men drank a little, smoked a little, worked a little, mined a little, read a little, and passed the time telling stories. Jim Gillis was an educated man and a great story teller. Clemens sat and listened, quietly smoking his pipe and watched as Gillis stood in front of the fireplace and recounted story after hilarious story, which had his small audience in stitches.
Taking a break from mining, on a rainy January day in early 1865, the men entertained themselves at the Angels Hotel in nearby Angels Camp. Sam heard an interesting story told in a rather dull way by Ben Coon, one of the bartenders. He jotted a note in his journal as he had done with so many other stories he'd heard. Later that year, he developed that story and it became "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and would launch Samuel Clemens' career as humorist Mark Twain.
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We celebrated the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County with the release of this film in 2015. Through Mark Twain's own words from his letters home, his short stories, books and his autobiography, this film tells the story of Samuel Clemens transformation to America's first writer, Mark Twain.
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Winner of Excellence Award - Depth of Field International Film Festival 2017
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Included are interviews with scholars familiar with the 'Western' Mark Twain and rare photographs from the archives of the Tuolumne County Historical Society and the University of California Bancroft Library Mark Twain Project.
John C. Brown - Producer | Bert Simonis - Producer
John C. Brown - Producer | Bert Simonis - Producer
We appreciate the support of our underwriters and sponsors:
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