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Speaker 1: This is an iHeart original. Let me take you back

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Speaker 1: to the eighteen sixties.

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Speaker 2: One evening, while the Civil War rages back east, a

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Speaker 2: newspaper man in San Francisco is on his way home,

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Speaker 2: far from the bloodshed tearing the nation asunder. He's peaceably

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Speaker 2: working to keep readers of the Pacific coast well informed.

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Speaker 2: But this man is not a man at peace. He

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Speaker 2: has a hair trigger and a set of brothers who've

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Speaker 2: trained him for fighting, and a sense of righteousness that

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Speaker 2: often boils over into quick anger. So this newspaperman, Steve Gillis,

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Speaker 2: while he's on his way home, he passes a saloon,

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Speaker 2: one of many, but this saloon, more like a bar,

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Speaker 2: stands out because he can hear a man shouting and

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Speaker 2: screaming inside. Steve Gillis stops, and then he steps inside

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Speaker 2: the saloon to see what's going down. Steve Gillis sees

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Speaker 2: a man he knows, Big Jim Casey, the proprietor of

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Speaker 2: the bar. Big Jim is busy beating on a much

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Speaker 2: smaller man. Now, Steve Gillis has a bad habit of

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Speaker 2: always standing up for the little guy, and so he

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Speaker 2: tells Big Jim Casey to stop beating on that fella. Surprisingly,

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Speaker 2: he does as Steve instructed. Big Jim turns the little

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Speaker 2: fellow loose. Then he refocuses his remaining anger at Steve Gillis.

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Speaker 2: He comes at him with big, long strides, and then

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Speaker 2: he marches right past Steve headed for the door. He

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Speaker 2: doesn't leave, though, Instead he takes the key locks the

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Speaker 2: saloon door. Then Big Jim tucks the key away in

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Speaker 2: one of his pockets. He tells Steve Gillis, now it's

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Speaker 2: your turn. The newspaper man, Steve Gillis, He's also on

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Speaker 2: the little side, but he has the beating heart of

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Speaker 2: a Scottish lion. Steve Gillis takes absolutely no guff. He

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Speaker 2: stays cool headed. He just calmly grabs a beer pitcher.

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Speaker 2: That way, when Big Jim rushes him, which he does,

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Speaker 2: Steve can smash that heavy glass beer pitcher right upside

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Speaker 2: the big man's head, which is exactly what he does.

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Speaker 2: Big Jim gets knocked out cold, but not only that,

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Speaker 2: He's circling the drain pipe of life and Steve is

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Speaker 2: there still locked inside the bar. By the time the

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Speaker 2: police arrive, he ends up arresting. Steve is taken to

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Speaker 2: the San Francisco Police headquarters, charged with AsSalt and battery.

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Speaker 2: Word quickly spreads. His best friend is awakened with the news.

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Speaker 2: Half awake, Sam Clemens jumps up and he springs into action.

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Speaker 2: He marches over to the layer of his enemy, the

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Speaker 2: chief of the San Francisco Police Department. Once there, Sam

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Speaker 2: Clemens arranges freedom for his friend. He bails out Steve Gillis.

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Speaker 2: What that means is he swears out of bond and

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Speaker 2: promises to pay five hundred dollars if Steve Gillis jumps bail.

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Speaker 2: That is about five hundred dollars more money than Sam

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Speaker 2: Clemens has to his name. That means if his buddy

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Speaker 2: Steve flees, which is more than likely than Sam Clemens

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Speaker 2: will subsequently be arrested, jailed, and subject to the will

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Speaker 2: of the horribly violent and vindictive SFPD of the eighteen sixties, who,

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Speaker 2: by the way, already hates Sam Clemens for what he

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Speaker 2: writes about the cops in the newspaper. Now, Steve Gillis

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Speaker 2: has two brothers, Jim and William Gillis. William records the

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Speaker 2: event of that night in a book that he wrote,

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Speaker 2: and he called his book Memories of Mark Twain and

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Speaker 2: Steve Gillis.

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Speaker 1: William writes that quote.

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Speaker 2: When the two friends left the Hall of Justice, they

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Speaker 2: walked along in silence for a short distance, with Sam

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Speaker 2: and the lead shaking his head and muttering to himself.

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Speaker 2: Sam's aloofness on this occasion was so unusual that Steve

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Speaker 2: couldn't comprehend it, so at last he hailed them. Hold on, Sam,

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Speaker 2: don't be in such a hurry. What's the matter with

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Speaker 2: you anyhow? Sam Clemens's pissed, That's what's the matter with

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Speaker 2: him anyhow. The truth is he's also scared, terrified actually,

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Speaker 2: because now the San Francisco Police Department possess a strong

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Speaker 2: legal reason to come after Sam.

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Speaker 1: And that's likely why he shouts back at his friend, Steve.

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Speaker 1: Haven't you got the brains in that thickhead of yours

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Speaker 1: to know that a policeman could come here at two

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Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning since snake me off to the

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Speaker 1: station house without them knowing that you were in trouble.

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Speaker 2: Hothead or not, Steve Gillis isn't about to be yelled

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Speaker 2: at for defending a smaller man from a beating, and

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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens equally hot headed, continues to yell back at

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Speaker 2: his best friend. Mind you, this all occurred long before

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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens became the old cat in the white suit,

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Speaker 2: that guy you see on the book covers with the

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Speaker 2: churlish mustache. This was back when Mark Twain was still

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Speaker 2: known by most folks as Sam Clemens, and Sam Clemens, well,

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Speaker 2: he was a bit of a badass. In the autumn

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Speaker 2: of eighteen sixty four, Sam Clemens was twenty nine years

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Speaker 2: old and a drinker, a rooftop carouser, a loyal friend,

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Speaker 2: and in this story, a man on the lamb hiding

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Speaker 2: out from the law. And thanks to Aul, these early

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Speaker 2: misadventures they transform Sam Clemens into the man we know

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Speaker 2: as Mark Twain. It's been said that all American literature

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Speaker 2: starts with Mark Twain. I'm here to tell you all

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Speaker 2: of American literature actually started with that badass name, Sam Clemens.

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Speaker 2: Because you'll see there was that bar fight and then

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Speaker 2: a flight from the law to save his best friend,

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Speaker 2: but also a magical frog and a hideout in the

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Speaker 2: Gold Country that all really seal the deal, crime and camaraderie.

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Speaker 2: That's how Sam Clemens becomes Mark Twain. This is the

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Speaker 2: story of the birth of a literary legend. This is

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Speaker 2: a portrait of the artist as a young Mark Twain.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to very special episodes in iHeart Original podcast. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Zarn Burnett, and this is portrait of the

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Speaker 1: artist as a young Mark Twain.

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Speaker 3: This episode is very exciting for me because I'm a

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Speaker 3: big Mark Twain fan. Oh really, I mean yeah, anyone

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Speaker 3: who was like in you know, a little English literature

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Speaker 3: nerd in like sixth grade, seventh grade, It's like, I

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Speaker 3: feel like we were reading Mark Twain and I was like, oh,

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Speaker 3: books can be funny, exactly.

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Speaker 4: That's a lot.

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Speaker 5: Yes, the picture of Mark Twain in my head is

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Speaker 5: always going to be the picture on the poster that

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Speaker 5: was probably in our fifth grade classroom, the old guy,

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Speaker 5: the wig, the not the wig, the crazy hair, and.

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Speaker 3: It might have been a wig you should have been.

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Speaker 5: We'll get into that. But getting to get the origin

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Speaker 5: story here, Sarah, I think you brought up this story

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Speaker 5: the first time we ever talked about doing the show,

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Speaker 5: that you wanted to do it in early Mark Twain history.

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Speaker 5: Have you always been always been drawn to him?

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Speaker 4: I'm a huge Mark Twain fan.

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Speaker 1: I love a churlish writer who's just kind of cantankerous

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Speaker 1: and doesn't really like kind of a missingthrope.

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Speaker 4: I just love him for that.

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Speaker 1: But also you can tell that he really does love humanity,

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Speaker 1: so it's like it's both ends of the extreme.

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Speaker 4: So I just love him for that.

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Speaker 1: And then I have on this board of my office

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Speaker 1: as all these images all over it, and it is

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Speaker 1: used for just random associations, and two of them happened

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Speaker 1: to be old Mark Twain, the exact cover you're talking about,

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Speaker 1: the white suit, the white hair, and next to him

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Speaker 1: is young Mark Twain. And I just always kept that

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Speaker 1: as like a how a writer ages or something, and

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Speaker 1: I don't know. And then I looked up at that

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Speaker 1: and I was like, I want to know the story

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Speaker 1: of how these two connect.

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Speaker 4: So that's why I pitched.

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Speaker 1: It to you.

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Speaker 5: That's a pretty good pitch. I think we should get

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Speaker 5: right back into your story. We'll talk about it on

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Speaker 5: the other side, all right.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, Sam Clemens did not want to go out west,

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Speaker 1: not at first, but sadly he had to turn his

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Speaker 1: back on his first love, being a Mississippi river boat pilot.

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Speaker 1: He gets forced from the river in eighteen sixty one.

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Speaker 1: All the traffic was shut down on account of the

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Speaker 1: Civil War. When the Civil War first boomed a bloody life,

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Speaker 1: Sam Clemens endured a brief two week stint as a

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Speaker 1: Confederate militiaman. However, having seen no action and deciding he

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Speaker 1: was on the side of the Union, Sam Clemens went

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Speaker 1: a wall.

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Speaker 2: He traveled north to Keokuk, Iowa, where he met up

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Speaker 2: with his older brother, Orion and his brother. Orion was

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Speaker 2: an ardent Lincoln man. Orion had been named the new

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Speaker 2: Secretary to the Governor of the Territory of Nevada as

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Speaker 2: a Lincoln appointee. Orion Clemens he labored hard and earnestly

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Speaker 2: to get Lincoln elected.

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Speaker 1: This was his reward, a political appointment.

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Speaker 2: Out west, far from the horrors of the Civil War,

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Speaker 2: he offered to take his brother Sam with him, especially

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Speaker 2: if Sam footed the bills for their cross country travel.

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Speaker 2: Sam indeed paid for their trip with what money he

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Speaker 2: had left from his well paid salary as a riverboat pilot.

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Speaker 2: The two brothers were off to see America via an

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Speaker 2: overland stagecoach west. It was to be quite the adventure,

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Speaker 2: crossing the continent all the way out to the Nevada Territory.

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Speaker 2: In August eighteen sixty one the two brothers arrived in

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Speaker 2: Carson City, Nevada, the soon to be capital of the territory.

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Speaker 2: It's an underwhelming sight when compared to the city's back east.

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Speaker 2: Yet the sagebrush boomtown is filled with life and color

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Speaker 2: and sensation. Sam Clemens dashes off a letter to his

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Speaker 2: mother in the rough language of the time, telling her

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Speaker 2: about the great desert land and all his hopes for

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Speaker 2: their futures in the West.

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Speaker 6: The country is fabulously rich in gold, silver, copper, lead, coal, iron, quicksilver, marble, granite, chalk,

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Speaker 6: plaster of Paris, gypsum, thieves, murderers, desperadoes, ladies, children, lawyers, Christians, Indians, chinamen, spaniards, gamblers, sharpers, coyotes,

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Speaker 6: poets and preachers, and jackass rabbits. I overheard a gentleman

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Speaker 6: say the other day that it was the damnedest country

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Speaker 6: under the sun, and that comprehensive conception I fully subscribe to.

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Speaker 2: By eighteen sixty one, when Sam Clemens first arrives, many

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Speaker 2: many folks have already traveled out West. They showed up

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Speaker 2: in the decade just prior. When the California gold rush

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Speaker 2: launched in eighteen forty eight, eighteen forty nine, they came

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Speaker 2: west to take part in that mad frenzy to pull

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Speaker 2: what was called the color from the hills. Faster than

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Speaker 2: you can say jumpin Jack Sprat, hundreds of thousands of people,

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Speaker 2: all looking to strike it rich quick with a gold strike,

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Speaker 2: flooded into the soon to be US state. That gold

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Speaker 2: mining mania lasted for years. Then in eighteen fifty nine,

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Speaker 2: a massive silver deposit was discovered on the other side

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Speaker 2: of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near what would later be

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Speaker 2: called Virginia City, Nevada. The silver deposit was known as

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Speaker 2: the Comstock Load. When Sam Clemens and his brother Oriyan

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Speaker 2: pull into the territory, they're too late for the gold rush,

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Speaker 2: but they're just in time for the silver craze gripping Nevada.

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Speaker 2: And at first Sam takes no interest in mining for silver,

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Speaker 2: But soon enough he decides he'd like to try his

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Speaker 2: hand at silver mining. See what all the fuss is about.

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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens finds a place himself in the Humboldt mining region.

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Speaker 2: He helps establish a tiny mining camp with a few

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Speaker 2: fellow prospectors. Men work the mountains searching for ledges that

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Speaker 2: bear the signs and stripes of color, which suggests there

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Speaker 2: might be gold or silver present within the rocky face.

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Speaker 2: Men buy mining claims, lease others the miners. They make

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Speaker 2: some fines, but not many. Sometimes out of boredom or

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Speaker 2: due to bad weather, Sam Clemens writes letters from the

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Speaker 2: mining camp. He sends them into Virginia City to be

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Speaker 2: published in the local papers, the Territorial Enterprise and the

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Speaker 2: esmarel To Star. He signs the letters he sends Josh

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Speaker 2: as in just joshing or joking around. The letters are

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Speaker 2: meant to be Little Vignette's humorous accounts of life in

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Speaker 2: the mining camps, but his letters have this quality to them.

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Speaker 2: They're more than just funny letters. Eventually those letters will

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Speaker 2: set sam Clemens on a new path away from the

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Speaker 2: dust of mining.

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Speaker 7: He's doing that only because he's been trying to hit

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Speaker 7: it big in the mines and that didn't work out.

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Speaker 2: That's Robert Hurst. He's the head of the Mark Twain papers.

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Speaker 2: You see Berkeley's archive of Twain's published works, letters, sketches stories.

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Speaker 7: He's really out of money. He and his brother are

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Speaker 7: both been trying to kind of, you know, find a

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Speaker 7: mind that really will make them millionaires, etc. And they

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Speaker 7: come close, but they don't make it a lot. I

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Speaker 7: can like a lot of people while he's out there

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Speaker 7: in the mines, you know, just really digging. I mean

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Speaker 7: Mark Plan is not a big physical guy, but he was,

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Speaker 7: you know, he used to pick et cetera shovel.

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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens gets offered a job at the Territorial Enterprise.

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Speaker 2: The twenty five dollars per week he's promised sounds far

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Speaker 2: better than the backbreaking nothing that he's making as a miner.

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Speaker 2: So in August of eighteen sixty two, Sam Clemens gives

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Speaker 2: up on working his silver mining claim and then Devata Territory.

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Speaker 2: He then hEFS his pack up onto his shoulder and

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Speaker 2: hikes one hundred and thirty miles, crossing desert and mountains

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Speaker 2: until he reaches the Boomtown, Virginia City. Sam Clemens arrives

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Speaker 2: in town exhausted, dust covered, and trail sore. Thankfully for

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Speaker 2: the future of American literature. He's welcomed into Virginia City

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Speaker 2: by a group of wild eyed journalists who spend their

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Speaker 2: days running a Boomtown newspaper. It's a respected paper, but

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Speaker 2: it's also one that's known more for its colorful prose

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Speaker 2: than for its sober treatment of the news of the day,

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Speaker 2: sam Clemens finds he's in good company. The men all

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Speaker 2: become fast friends. The proprietor and chief editor, a man

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Speaker 2: named Joseph Goodman, offers sam Clemens steady employment. His days

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Speaker 2: spent as a typesetter back home in Missouri come in handy.

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Speaker 2: He takes the job, and within a year sam Clemens

245
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Speaker 2: emerges as the defecto leader of that rowdy bunch of

246
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Speaker 2: mining camp newspapermen. The next year, eighteen sixty three, amid

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Speaker 2: the the ongoing horrors of the Civil War. Safe there

248
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Speaker 2: in the far West, sam Clemens stays busy giving the

249
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Speaker 2: news to minors working the comstock load. He's sent to

250
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Speaker 2: Carson to report on the territorial capital and its legislature.

251
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Speaker 2: Nevada is debating statehood. Now the capital isn't the liveliest beat,

252
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Speaker 2: but his editor trust Sam Clemens can make his reporting

253
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Speaker 2: come alive. With his unique observations and his rare wit.

254
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Speaker 2: He's already in getting known for his voice on the page.

255
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Speaker 2: It's at his first professional writing gig there at the

256
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Speaker 2: Territorial Enterprise, that young Sam Clemens finds he has a

257
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Speaker 2: natural born gift for telling stories, funny ones, so he.

258
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Speaker 7: Should hire as a reporter. And the reporter's job is

259
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Speaker 7: visited to go around Virginia City and find out, you know,

260
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Speaker 7: brief stories, brief squibs about what's going on. Okay, but

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Speaker 7: of course, because he's got a sense of humor that

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Speaker 7: it's so in parallel. All those things are amazingly funny,

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Speaker 7: and he is eventually given the role of an out

264
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Speaker 7: of town writer. Letter writer, send him to Carson where

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Speaker 7: the legislature is taking place.

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Speaker 2: Unlike with mining, Sam Clemens is an instant success as

267
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Speaker 2: a political reporter.

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Speaker 7: Clemens is first of all just extremely outgoing and able

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Speaker 7: to kind of talk to all kinds of people, and

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Speaker 7: then he's able to kind of give a report that is, well,

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Speaker 7: it's not what you and I would think of as news.

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Speaker 7: It's part story, part fiction, part a joke, a hoax,

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Speaker 7: all kinds of things like that.

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Speaker 2: Long before Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolf would invent

275
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Speaker 2: gonzo journalism as a blend of fact in fiction, Sam

276
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Speaker 2: Clemens is out there pulling that same sort of literary

277
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Speaker 2: stunt with his letters from Carson.

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Speaker 7: We don't have those letters. They are so early that

279
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Speaker 7: no one has only preserved brief descriptions zone. It's just

280
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Speaker 7: clear from what we've gathered over the years that Martroy

281
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Speaker 7: liked publishing those things that he wrote for himself without

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Speaker 7: ever really thinking of himself as a professional writer. That

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Speaker 7: would take a while before he got there.

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Speaker 2: Now that he has essentially found his tribe and his calling,

285
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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens gets to work making a name for himself.

286
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Speaker 1: As a reporter.

287
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Speaker 2: While he's working in Virginia City for the Territorial Enterprise,

288
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Speaker 2: he's also sending letters down to a bigger paper in

289
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Speaker 2: San Francisco.

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Speaker 1: Those readers fall.

291
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Speaker 2: In love with his accounts from the rough and tumble

292
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Speaker 2: part of the West. Most of his writing in those

293
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Speaker 2: days as a Territorial reporter doesn't carry his byline, as

294
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Speaker 2: in there's no name given for the author. But then

295
00:16:56,402 --> 00:16:59,842
Speaker 2: on February second, eighteen sixty three, Sam Clemens sends in

296
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Speaker 2: a letter reporting on the political events going down in Carson,

297
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Speaker 2: and this time he signs the letter for publication Mark Twain.

298
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Speaker 2: That's the first time he uses that name in print,

299
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Speaker 2: February second, eighteen sixty three. Apparently Sam feels it fits

300
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Speaker 2: him well, because from that day forward, Sam Clemens uses

301
00:17:18,562 --> 00:17:21,642
Speaker 2: the new name in print, and soon enough in life

302
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Speaker 2: he becomes Mark Twain.

303
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Speaker 7: It's not like it is today, right, I mean, if

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Speaker 7: you're a stand up comic today here at the top

305
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Speaker 7: of the a list, right, that's not the way it

306
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Speaker 7: was in Mark Twain Stein. It really wasn't that way

307
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Speaker 7: for the whole of the nineteenth century. It's a low form,

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Speaker 7: and so a pseudonym is used as a kind of

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Speaker 7: protection against being too much identified with this not very

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Speaker 7: respectable journalist and form. It is a mask. I mean,

311
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Speaker 7: the humors we know, if we know them at all,

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Speaker 7: we know them by their pseudonym.

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Speaker 2: Well, Sam Clemens is working as a reporter at the

314
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Speaker 2: Territorial Enterprise, carousing with that wild group of fellow newspapermen.

315
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Speaker 2: One of the most famous humorists of the comes to town.

316
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Speaker 2: He's there to entertain the denizens of the boomtown for

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Speaker 2: some of that silver jingling in their pockets. His name

318
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Speaker 2: is Artemis Ward, which, well, as you might guess.

319
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Speaker 7: Artemis Ward is asuday, it's not his real name. Charles

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Speaker 7: Brown is his real name.

321
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Speaker 2: Artemis Ward stays in Virginia City for eleven days. In

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Speaker 2: that time, Mark Twain reviews his show for the enterprise.

323
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Speaker 2: He witnesses first hand the comic wit of Artemis Ward

324
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Speaker 2: and his stage presence, how he has mastered the effect

325
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Speaker 2: of his voice to share truths, not facts. This performance

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Speaker 2: will stay with Twain, and it also marks the beginning

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Speaker 2: of their friendship. Artemis Ward was a fellow newspaper guy.

328
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Speaker 2: The two men quickly bond as both friends and peers.

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Speaker 2: Those eleven days are memorable for all involved. Artemis Ward

330
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Speaker 2: keeps in touch with Sam Clemens, writing to him from

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Speaker 2: another mining camp in Nevada. I shall always remember Virginia

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Speaker 2: as a bright spot in my existence, as all others must,

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Speaker 2: or rather cannot be, as it were. But not only that,

334
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Speaker 2: He also urges his comrade and Ink to recognize the

335
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Speaker 2: unique power of his own voice. Artemis Ward writes to

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Speaker 2: Sam Clemens.

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Speaker 1: Sir, do not flatter yourself that you are the only

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Speaker 1: chastely humorist rater onto the Pacific slopes. Goodbye, oh boy,

339
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Speaker 1: and God bless you. The matter of which I spoke

340
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Speaker 1: to you so earnestly shall be just as earnestly attended

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Speaker 1: to now. That matter was Artemis Ward's offer to get

342
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Speaker 1: editors in New York to read and publish Sam Clemens's work. However,

343
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Speaker 1: Sam remains doubtful.

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Speaker 7: Well, I certainly didn't hurt us say to have someone

345
00:19:47,362 --> 00:19:50,642
Speaker 7: like Artemis Ward say you should make yourself known to

346
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Speaker 7: the Eastern journals. It was encouraging.

347
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Speaker 2: But first Sam Clemens will have to leave behind those

348
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Speaker 2: happy days at the Territorial Enterprise. One day, while his

349
00:20:08,042 --> 00:20:10,762
Speaker 2: boss Joseph Goodman is away at the time down in

350
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Speaker 2: San Francisco on a holiday and Sam Clemens is acting

351
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Speaker 2: as editor in chief, he uses the opportunity to renew

352
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Speaker 2: a personal feud.

353
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Speaker 1: James L.

354
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Speaker 2: Laird is the fuddy duddy editor of the rival Virginia

355
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Speaker 2: city paper, The Daily Union.

356
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Speaker 1: For a number of.

357
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Speaker 2: Days, Sam Clemens amuses himself and his newspaper buddies by

358
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Speaker 2: sending challenges to Laird, demanding that he partake in a duel.

359
00:20:35,162 --> 00:20:38,722
Speaker 2: But then the editor Laird actually does take Sam Clemens

360
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Speaker 2: up on his joking offer. A time and a place

361
00:20:41,682 --> 00:20:45,442
Speaker 2: are set for the writer's deadly play with firearms. True

362
00:20:45,482 --> 00:20:48,362
Speaker 2: to that time in his life. His friend Steve Gillis

363
00:20:48,402 --> 00:20:52,042
Speaker 2: is integral to the story that follows. You see via

364
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Speaker 2: one well placed little white lie, Steve saves Sam's hide.

365
00:20:57,922 --> 00:20:59,042
Speaker 1: The deed went down like this.

366
00:20:59,402 --> 00:21:02,082
Speaker 2: Steve is helping Sam get ready for his future duel

367
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Speaker 2: with some target practice. But the thing is Sam Clemens

368
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Speaker 2: is a hopeless gunman.

369
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Speaker 8: I began on the rail, I couldn't hit the rail.

370
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Speaker 8: Then I tried the barn door, but I couldn't hit

371
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Speaker 8: the barn door. There was nobody in danger but stragglers

372
00:21:18,602 --> 00:21:22,202
Speaker 8: around on the flanks of that mark. I was thoroughly discouraged,

373
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Speaker 8: and I didn't cheer up anyone. I presently heard pistol

374
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Speaker 8: shots over the next little ravine. I knew what that was.

375
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Speaker 8: That was Laird's gang out practicing him.

376
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Speaker 2: Laird and his gang do, indeed hear Sam's gunshots. Naturally,

377
00:21:37,282 --> 00:21:39,242
Speaker 2: they come over the rise to see what sort of

378
00:21:39,282 --> 00:21:42,002
Speaker 2: shot Sam Clemens is, which, as you know, is the

379
00:21:42,242 --> 00:21:45,562
Speaker 2: terrible kind. This is where his buddy Steve Gillis steps

380
00:21:45,602 --> 00:21:49,282
Speaker 2: in to save him. A tiny bird catches Steve's eye.

381
00:21:49,522 --> 00:21:52,802
Speaker 2: He whips out his pistol and he fires. He dots

382
00:21:52,842 --> 00:21:55,362
Speaker 2: that bird with a bullet right in its eye. The

383
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Speaker 2: bird's head explodes in a cloud of feathers. What little

384
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Speaker 2: remains falls to the earth, cold and dead, barely. A

385
00:22:02,842 --> 00:22:07,802
Speaker 2: few moments later, Laird and his boys walk into the scene.

386
00:22:08,042 --> 00:22:10,082
Speaker 8: We ran down to pick up the bird, and then

387
00:22:10,362 --> 00:22:12,522
Speaker 8: sure enough mister Lard and his people came over the

388
00:22:12,602 --> 00:22:15,642
Speaker 8: ridge and they joined us. When Laard second saw that

389
00:22:15,642 --> 00:22:18,922
Speaker 8: bird with his head shot off, he lost color, he faded,

390
00:22:19,522 --> 00:22:22,082
Speaker 8: and you could see he was interested. He said who

391
00:22:22,082 --> 00:22:26,082
Speaker 8: did that? Before I could answer, Steve spoke it. He said,

392
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Speaker 8: quite calmly, a matter of fact, way Clements did it.

393
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Speaker 8: The second said, why, that's a wonderful How far off

394
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Speaker 8: was that bird? Steve said, oh, not far, about thirty yards.

395
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Speaker 8: The second said, well, that's astonishing shooting. How often can

396
00:22:40,882 --> 00:22:45,282
Speaker 8: he do that? Steve said, languidly, about four out of five.

397
00:22:45,922 --> 00:22:48,802
Speaker 8: I knew that little rascal was lying. I didn't say anything.

398
00:22:49,362 --> 00:22:53,882
Speaker 8: Second said, why that's amazing shooting. I suppose he couldn't

399
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Speaker 8: hit a church.

400
00:22:56,562 --> 00:23:01,322
Speaker 2: This well timed lie by Steve slyly saves Sam Clemens's life, since,

401
00:23:01,362 --> 00:23:02,882
Speaker 2: as he later learns.

402
00:23:03,002 --> 00:23:06,402
Speaker 8: Lard had hit his mark four out of six right along.

403
00:23:07,002 --> 00:23:09,082
Speaker 8: If the duel had come off, he would have filled

404
00:23:09,122 --> 00:23:12,202
Speaker 8: my skin with so many bullet holes that it wouldn't

405
00:23:12,202 --> 00:23:14,682
Speaker 8: have held my principles.

406
00:23:15,122 --> 00:23:17,842
Speaker 2: After he avoids near certain death and a duel, Sam

407
00:23:17,882 --> 00:23:20,402
Speaker 2: Clemens decides it's high time for he and Steve de

408
00:23:20,522 --> 00:23:24,082
Speaker 2: Van moose from Virginia City, especially after they hear from

409
00:23:24,082 --> 00:23:27,122
Speaker 2: the territorial governor. The governor gets word to them it

410
00:23:27,122 --> 00:23:29,042
Speaker 2: would be a good idea for us to leave the

411
00:23:29,162 --> 00:23:31,002
Speaker 2: territory by the first stage coach.

412
00:23:31,522 --> 00:23:31,722
Speaker 1: Now.

413
00:23:31,762 --> 00:23:34,562
Speaker 2: If they missed that early bird stage coach the next day,

414
00:23:34,842 --> 00:23:37,882
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens will be the first man prosecuted under the

415
00:23:37,922 --> 00:23:41,402
Speaker 2: new state law forbidding dueling, and it carries a sentence

416
00:23:41,442 --> 00:23:44,482
Speaker 2: of two years in prison at hard labor.

417
00:23:46,882 --> 00:23:50,362
Speaker 8: I've never had anything to do with duels since I

418
00:23:50,522 --> 00:23:54,962
Speaker 8: thoroughly disprove the duels. I consider them unwise, and I

419
00:23:55,082 --> 00:23:59,522
Speaker 8: know they are dangerous also sinful. If a man should

420
00:23:59,642 --> 00:24:03,162
Speaker 8: challenge me now, I would go to that man, taken

421
00:24:03,362 --> 00:24:07,602
Speaker 8: kindly and forgivenly by his hand, lead him to a

422
00:24:07,722 --> 00:24:12,762
Speaker 8: quiet retired spot, and kill him.

423
00:24:13,562 --> 00:24:16,522
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens and his buddy Steve Gillis read the shifting

424
00:24:16,602 --> 00:24:20,602
Speaker 2: winds and recognize it's time they try their hands working elsewhere,

425
00:24:20,882 --> 00:24:23,642
Speaker 2: perhaps for one of the big newspapers down in San Francisco.

426
00:24:24,602 --> 00:24:27,482
Speaker 2: On May twenty ninth, eighteen sixty four, Sam and Steve

427
00:24:27,882 --> 00:24:30,042
Speaker 2: leave Virginia City by stagecoach.

428
00:24:30,882 --> 00:24:33,202
Speaker 1: Then they take a riverboat back to the Bay.

429
00:24:34,282 --> 00:24:37,682
Speaker 2: Back east, young men like Sam Clemens and Steve Gillis

430
00:24:38,002 --> 00:24:42,202
Speaker 2: are dying by the thousands in muddy, bloody battlefields of

431
00:24:42,242 --> 00:24:46,482
Speaker 2: the Civil War. Meanwhile, these two young newspaper men, both

432
00:24:46,482 --> 00:24:49,402
Speaker 2: from the South, are lucky to be way out west

433
00:24:49,402 --> 00:24:54,002
Speaker 2: where they can chase libertine pleasures and literary futures. In

434
00:24:54,042 --> 00:24:56,922
Speaker 2: San Francisco. One hundred years before the Summer of Love

435
00:24:57,002 --> 00:24:59,042
Speaker 2: put the city by the Bay on the map as

436
00:24:59,082 --> 00:25:02,162
Speaker 2: the capital of the hippie counterculture, there was this prior

437
00:25:02,282 --> 00:25:06,282
Speaker 2: era of Bohemian rebellion. You see, back in the eighteen sixties,

438
00:25:06,362 --> 00:25:09,482
Speaker 2: a free space, sirited era first royaled the status quo

439
00:25:09,602 --> 00:25:12,522
Speaker 2: of the city. A perfect example the type of folks

440
00:25:12,522 --> 00:25:15,202
Speaker 2: who were drawn to San Francisco at that time was this.

441
00:25:15,162 --> 00:25:19,042
Speaker 1: Man named Emperor Norton. That's not his government name. He

442
00:25:19,162 --> 00:25:23,202
Speaker 1: was born Joshua Abraham Norton, a commodities dealer when he

443
00:25:23,242 --> 00:25:26,282
Speaker 1: first arrives, but after a disastrous loss when he tries

444
00:25:26,322 --> 00:25:30,162
Speaker 1: to corner the local rice market, he loses everything, including

445
00:25:30,242 --> 00:25:34,242
Speaker 1: his marbles. Free of his sanity, he reinvents himself as

446
00:25:34,442 --> 00:25:37,402
Speaker 1: the Emperor of the United States, because why not, and

447
00:25:37,442 --> 00:25:41,522
Speaker 1: as Emperor Norton, he becomes this beloved figure in this loose, free,

448
00:25:41,522 --> 00:25:45,002
Speaker 1: willing city. Now, in order to time travel back to

449
00:25:45,082 --> 00:25:48,962
Speaker 1: those days, we caught up with Emperor Norton's fantastic San

450
00:25:49,002 --> 00:25:53,122
Speaker 1: Francisco time machine, and we asked the historical reenactor who

451
00:25:53,122 --> 00:25:56,122
Speaker 1: gives guided tours of the city dressed mind you as

452
00:25:56,162 --> 00:25:59,202
Speaker 1: Emperor Norton, to take us back to the San Francisco

453
00:25:59,282 --> 00:26:01,722
Speaker 1: haunts that Sam Clemens would have known.

454
00:26:04,362 --> 00:26:08,202
Speaker 9: So we are now within the wicked, wicked Barbary Coast.

455
00:26:08,762 --> 00:26:11,642
Speaker 9: When the beginning of the tour around Maiden Lane formerly

456
00:26:11,722 --> 00:26:14,402
Speaker 9: Morton shut but I said that was like take that,

457
00:26:15,162 --> 00:26:20,122
Speaker 9: multiply it by a hundred add in gambling halls, opium dens,

458
00:26:20,642 --> 00:26:27,402
Speaker 9: concert saloons, every vice imaginable, some unimagined.

459
00:26:27,802 --> 00:26:28,282
Speaker 7: You would have.

460
00:26:28,322 --> 00:26:31,962
Speaker 9: The Barbary Coast gold miners would come down the Sierra

461
00:26:32,042 --> 00:26:34,362
Speaker 9: loaded down with their gold dust and gold ore and

462
00:26:34,442 --> 00:26:38,402
Speaker 9: take it down appropriately named gold Street. Here you are

463
00:26:38,482 --> 00:26:43,002
Speaker 9: looking at Safrus from the eighteen fifties. Literally, the gold

464
00:26:43,002 --> 00:26:45,482
Speaker 9: miner would scoop up that cash and make a b

465
00:26:45,642 --> 00:26:48,562
Speaker 9: line to the establishments around here to get all the

466
00:26:48,602 --> 00:26:52,402
Speaker 9: things he couldn't get up in the Sierra. Let's just

467
00:26:52,562 --> 00:26:57,082
Speaker 9: say wine, women and song. You know, a whole lot

468
00:26:57,122 --> 00:26:59,562
Speaker 9: of it. A lot of that activity took place well

469
00:26:59,602 --> 00:27:03,322
Speaker 9: applock up there on Pacific Street, which then had the

470
00:27:03,402 --> 00:27:06,842
Speaker 9: nickname of Terrific Street because of all the things you

471
00:27:06,962 --> 00:27:08,082
Speaker 9: could get there.

472
00:27:09,042 --> 00:27:11,762
Speaker 2: This was the vibe in San Francisco when Sam Clemens

473
00:27:11,842 --> 00:27:14,802
Speaker 2: and Steve Gillis arrive in May of eighteen sixty four.

474
00:27:16,722 --> 00:27:18,962
Speaker 2: At that time, it's a boisterous city of around one

475
00:27:19,002 --> 00:27:24,802
Speaker 2: hundred thousand people, filled with boundless optimism, enthusiasm, and plenty

476
00:27:24,842 --> 00:27:29,122
Speaker 2: of unchecked greed, as well as the interlocking labyrinths of

477
00:27:29,162 --> 00:27:33,042
Speaker 2: the underworld community. Sam Clemens he plans to strike it

478
00:27:33,202 --> 00:27:35,522
Speaker 2: rich now. His new idea is to buy and sell

479
00:27:35,602 --> 00:27:37,722
Speaker 2: stocks in the silver and gold mines.

480
00:27:38,082 --> 00:27:41,282
Speaker 1: Less work. That way, He finds lodgings for himself at

481
00:27:41,282 --> 00:27:43,442
Speaker 1: a swanky joint, the Occidental Hotel.

482
00:27:45,002 --> 00:27:48,682
Speaker 8: I lived at the best hotels, exhibited my clothes in

483
00:27:48,722 --> 00:27:53,882
Speaker 8: the most conspicuous places, infested the opera, and learned to

484
00:27:53,882 --> 00:27:58,282
Speaker 8: seemen raptured with music, which oftener afflicted my agorant ear

485
00:27:59,082 --> 00:28:00,162
Speaker 8: than enchanted it.

486
00:28:02,082 --> 00:28:05,762
Speaker 2: As he's infesting the opera, waiting on his imminent wealth

487
00:28:05,802 --> 00:28:10,322
Speaker 2: to arrive from his many mining stocks. His fortune never

488
00:28:10,362 --> 00:28:13,282
Speaker 2: does arrive, it never materializes. Instead, the value of his

489
00:28:13,322 --> 00:28:15,202
Speaker 2: mining stocks come crashing down.

490
00:28:15,322 --> 00:28:16,602
Speaker 1: He loses it all.

491
00:28:18,122 --> 00:28:22,682
Speaker 8: The wreckage was complete. I was an early bigger and

492
00:28:22,682 --> 00:28:23,882
Speaker 8: a thorough one.

493
00:28:24,602 --> 00:28:27,802
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens turns back to his writing. He cobbles together

494
00:28:27,882 --> 00:28:31,122
Speaker 2: an income from a few literary journals and newspapers in

495
00:28:31,162 --> 00:28:35,202
Speaker 2: San Francisco. Meanwhile, he also befriends men whose names would

496
00:28:35,242 --> 00:28:38,682
Speaker 2: later earn them fame. Back to our tour guide, Emperor Norton.

497
00:28:39,442 --> 00:28:42,802
Speaker 9: What studier of eighteen fifty three to nineteen fifty nine

498
00:28:43,162 --> 00:28:48,642
Speaker 9: was this building? The Montgomery Block, affectionately known as the

499
00:28:48,842 --> 00:28:52,682
Speaker 9: Monkey Block, It was the first modern office block in

500
00:28:52,802 --> 00:28:56,322
Speaker 9: San Francisco. It was home to artists and writers like

501
00:28:56,762 --> 00:29:03,682
Speaker 9: Ambrose Spears, Brett Hart, Jack London, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Lola Montez,

502
00:29:03,842 --> 00:29:08,082
Speaker 9: and Lotta Crabtree all had offices in the Montgomery Block

503
00:29:08,122 --> 00:29:12,042
Speaker 9: at one time or another, as did a relatively obscure

504
00:29:12,162 --> 00:29:16,482
Speaker 9: writer by the name of Samuel Clemons. Well, that was

505
00:29:16,522 --> 00:29:19,202
Speaker 9: his name when he got By the time he leaves

506
00:29:19,242 --> 00:29:23,682
Speaker 9: San Francisco, he's world famous and known as Mark Twain.

507
00:29:26,042 --> 00:29:28,802
Speaker 2: Back then, the real Emperor Norton and Sam Clemens were

508
00:29:28,842 --> 00:29:31,762
Speaker 2: quite familiar with each other. Some claim the King from

509
00:29:31,802 --> 00:29:34,682
Speaker 2: the King and the Duke from Huckleberry Finn is based

510
00:29:34,762 --> 00:29:35,682
Speaker 2: on Emperor Norton.

511
00:29:36,882 --> 00:29:38,602
Speaker 7: Our pas costs many times.

512
00:29:38,642 --> 00:29:43,482
Speaker 9: After all, he worked here, I lived there At one point.

513
00:29:43,842 --> 00:29:47,442
Speaker 9: His office was right next door to the Eureka Logics

514
00:29:47,482 --> 00:29:48,722
Speaker 9: boarding house where I lived.

515
00:29:49,842 --> 00:29:53,282
Speaker 4: He wrote about me on a number of occasions, but.

516
00:29:54,842 --> 00:29:58,082
Speaker 10: Not a very flattering torture in that book says I

517
00:29:58,282 --> 00:30:03,802
Speaker 10: was a drunken, a grifter who that Stiggs. We're going

518
00:30:03,882 --> 00:30:07,442
Speaker 10: to have very stern words with Clemens the next time

519
00:30:07,522 --> 00:30:08,282
Speaker 10: we encounter him.

520
00:30:08,322 --> 00:30:11,762
Speaker 7: I can assure you it's to be very upsetting.

521
00:30:12,562 --> 00:30:15,162
Speaker 1: That claim, by the way, is disputed by the head

522
00:30:15,162 --> 00:30:18,642
Speaker 1: of the Mark Twain Archive, Bob Hurst. But we'll let

523
00:30:18,682 --> 00:30:21,722
Speaker 1: the Emperor have his story. Why argue?

524
00:30:21,842 --> 00:30:25,042
Speaker 2: Now flatbusted and needing a job and qualified for few,

525
00:30:25,162 --> 00:30:28,562
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens finds work at the San Francisco Morning Call,

526
00:30:28,842 --> 00:30:31,962
Speaker 2: located there at six hundred and twelve Commercial Street. For

527
00:30:32,002 --> 00:30:35,842
Speaker 2: the newspaper, sam Clemens writes about the local events, Penn's

528
00:30:35,882 --> 00:30:39,762
Speaker 2: theater reviews. He handles crime reporting. His day starts at

529
00:30:39,762 --> 00:30:43,602
Speaker 2: the courthouse middle hours of the day. He spends patting

530
00:30:43,642 --> 00:30:46,362
Speaker 2: about the city, sniffing after any story of the day.

531
00:30:47,002 --> 00:30:50,002
Speaker 2: At night, he attends the theater. He sees the shows

532
00:30:50,042 --> 00:30:51,762
Speaker 2: people are talking about.

533
00:30:51,842 --> 00:30:53,042
Speaker 1: He reviews those.

534
00:30:53,562 --> 00:30:57,962
Speaker 2: Then finally he retires to his chambers around eleven pm.

535
00:30:58,242 --> 00:30:59,642
Speaker 1: There he writes.

536
00:30:59,322 --> 00:31:02,602
Speaker 2: Into the small hours of the morning. Typically he turns

537
00:31:02,642 --> 00:31:04,842
Speaker 2: in sometime around.

538
00:31:04,602 --> 00:31:08,682
Speaker 1: Two or three am. At nine am the next day

539
00:31:08,722 --> 00:31:09,922
Speaker 1: he's back at the courthouse.

540
00:31:10,922 --> 00:31:16,202
Speaker 8: It was fearful drudgery, soul of drudgery, almost destitute of interest.

541
00:31:17,042 --> 00:31:20,562
Speaker 8: It was an awful slavery for a lazy man.

542
00:31:21,802 --> 00:31:25,762
Speaker 2: Also, The Morning Call is a inexpensive newspaper, one aimed

543
00:31:25,802 --> 00:31:29,642
Speaker 2: at the working class, predominantly Irish population. It's known as

544
00:31:29,642 --> 00:31:33,162
Speaker 2: a washerwoman's paper, not the ideal for a young writer

545
00:31:33,322 --> 00:31:37,442
Speaker 2: with literary aspirations, mostly though in practical terms it means

546
00:31:37,482 --> 00:31:40,442
Speaker 2: the stories he writes have to accord with the cultural

547
00:31:40,482 --> 00:31:45,602
Speaker 2: prejudices of his readers. That grates on Sam Clemens until finally,

548
00:31:45,842 --> 00:31:48,682
Speaker 2: in October of eighteen sixty four, Sam Clemens makes the

549
00:31:48,802 --> 00:31:53,282
Speaker 2: damnable mistake of going against the overt prejudices of his readers.

550
00:31:54,682 --> 00:31:57,922
Speaker 8: One Sunday afternoon, I saw some muddlms chasing and stone

551
00:31:57,922 --> 00:32:01,002
Speaker 8: in a chinaman who was heavily laden with the weak

552
00:32:01,322 --> 00:32:05,042
Speaker 8: waship Christian customers. And I noticed that a policeman was

553
00:32:05,082 --> 00:32:09,282
Speaker 8: observing this performance with us interest nothing more, He did

554
00:32:09,282 --> 00:32:13,242
Speaker 8: not intervene. I wrote up the incident with considerable wimpth

555
00:32:13,282 --> 00:32:16,962
Speaker 8: and holy indignation, and so I sought for it in

556
00:32:17,002 --> 00:32:20,082
Speaker 8: the paper the next morning with eagerness. It wasn't there.

557
00:32:21,322 --> 00:32:23,722
Speaker 8: The foreman said mister Barnes had found in a gallery

558
00:32:23,762 --> 00:32:27,162
Speaker 8: poof and or its extinction. He said that the Call

559
00:32:27,362 --> 00:32:30,442
Speaker 8: gathered its livelihood from the poor and must respect their

560
00:32:30,562 --> 00:32:34,602
Speaker 8: prejudices or perish.

561
00:32:34,762 --> 00:32:38,922
Speaker 2: After his editorial against anti Chinese racism gets killed, so

562
00:32:39,162 --> 00:32:42,562
Speaker 2: dies his future at the paper. Yet even after he

563
00:32:42,642 --> 00:32:45,882
Speaker 2: fires him, his editor still encourages Sam that he's quote

564
00:32:46,122 --> 00:32:48,082
Speaker 2: capable of better things in literature.

565
00:32:48,762 --> 00:32:52,482
Speaker 7: He says, Barnes gave him a chance to retire, to resign,

566
00:32:52,562 --> 00:32:55,242
Speaker 7: and instead of just firing him, I mean the Call

567
00:32:55,882 --> 00:32:58,002
Speaker 7: job was not well suited to him. He was doing

568
00:32:58,082 --> 00:33:01,882
Speaker 7: nothing but local items. And this piece that gets turned

569
00:33:01,922 --> 00:33:05,682
Speaker 7: down was actually more ambitious than almost anything else that

570
00:33:05,722 --> 00:33:07,682
Speaker 7: we know about that he actually published.

571
00:33:07,922 --> 00:33:11,042
Speaker 2: Hoping to stave off the dolgrums of poverty, Sam writes

572
00:33:11,082 --> 00:33:15,162
Speaker 2: ambitious pieces for Brett Hart's stylish new weekly The Californian

573
00:33:15,842 --> 00:33:18,362
Speaker 2: in the eighteen sixties. San Francisco is home to a

574
00:33:18,442 --> 00:33:22,322
Speaker 2: rare group of writers. Collectively, they're known as the Bohemians.

575
00:33:22,842 --> 00:33:27,122
Speaker 2: This informal group includes Brett Hart, Ambrose Spears, Henry George,

576
00:33:27,162 --> 00:33:31,122
Speaker 2: Joaquin Miller, and Mark Twain, although Twain more often he

577
00:33:31,162 --> 00:33:34,762
Speaker 2: prefers the company of a separate San Francisco literary society,

578
00:33:35,162 --> 00:33:38,842
Speaker 2: the Argonauts, and there are also others, such as the Romancers.

579
00:33:39,242 --> 00:33:42,442
Speaker 2: It was a fertile literary grounds in which to grow.

580
00:33:42,482 --> 00:33:46,082
Speaker 2: But why San Francisco in the eighteen sixties. What brought

581
00:33:46,082 --> 00:33:47,642
Speaker 2: this literary scene together?

582
00:33:48,082 --> 00:33:53,562
Speaker 7: It was a relatively unburned free atmosphere in which you

583
00:33:53,682 --> 00:33:57,562
Speaker 7: were allowed to say things, print things which might not

584
00:33:58,082 --> 00:34:00,322
Speaker 7: be printed if you were in New York, or in

585
00:34:00,522 --> 00:34:02,042
Speaker 7: Washington or even Denver.

586
00:34:02,802 --> 00:34:05,642
Speaker 2: Since he's no longer a paid reporter for a daily paper,

587
00:34:05,802 --> 00:34:12,202
Speaker 2: money grows tight quickly. Literary aspirations often do leave hungry bellies, underemployed, broke.

588
00:34:12,322 --> 00:34:15,402
Speaker 2: Yet again, Sam Clemens falls into what we would think

589
00:34:15,442 --> 00:34:18,842
Speaker 2: of as a deep depression. He gives up his room

590
00:34:18,882 --> 00:34:21,842
Speaker 2: at the Nice Hotel. He moves into a cheap rooming

591
00:34:21,842 --> 00:34:26,002
Speaker 2: house for months. The Blues are his constant companion.

592
00:34:28,242 --> 00:34:31,762
Speaker 7: And Mark Twain. When he comes back from the Angels camp,

593
00:34:31,962 --> 00:34:35,562
Speaker 7: he's still unemployed, and he goes from about February eighteen

594
00:34:35,642 --> 00:34:41,322
Speaker 7: sixty five until October eighteen sixty five, it's unemployed. Maybe

595
00:34:41,442 --> 00:34:45,002
Speaker 7: writing a few things for the Californian, so some income,

596
00:34:45,242 --> 00:34:49,682
Speaker 7: but not committed to being a writer. And we know

597
00:34:49,962 --> 00:34:53,922
Speaker 7: from a very important letter that he writes in October

598
00:34:53,962 --> 00:34:57,602
Speaker 7: eighteen sixty five that a reason for not committing himself

599
00:34:57,642 --> 00:35:02,162
Speaker 7: to this profession is that humor was well. As he said,

600
00:35:02,482 --> 00:35:05,802
Speaker 7: it's my strongest suit, but there's nothing to be proud of.

601
00:35:06,402 --> 00:35:10,282
Speaker 7: It's literature of a low order. I issuees.

602
00:35:10,802 --> 00:35:13,962
Speaker 2: In his book Roughing It, Sam Clemens writes about this

603
00:35:14,082 --> 00:35:17,082
Speaker 2: sense of shame at his prospects, in the deep embarrassment

604
00:35:17,122 --> 00:35:20,162
Speaker 2: of his poverty, such that it prevents him from seeing

605
00:35:20,202 --> 00:35:20,802
Speaker 2: his friends.

606
00:35:21,562 --> 00:35:25,762
Speaker 8: I slunk from backstreet to backstreet. I slunk away from

607
00:35:25,802 --> 00:35:30,322
Speaker 8: approaching faces that looks familiar. I slunk to my knees.

608
00:35:30,402 --> 00:35:34,442
Speaker 8: And at midnight, after wanderings were but slinking away from

609
00:35:34,522 --> 00:35:39,322
Speaker 8: cheerfulness and light, I slunk to my bed. I felt

610
00:35:39,362 --> 00:35:45,402
Speaker 8: meaner and lonelier and more despicable than the worms. During

611
00:35:45,442 --> 00:35:48,642
Speaker 8: all this time, I had but one piece of money,

612
00:35:49,602 --> 00:35:54,402
Speaker 8: a silver ten cent piece. I clung to my dime desperately,

613
00:35:54,562 --> 00:35:58,242
Speaker 8: till it was smooth with handling. I held onto it

614
00:35:58,562 --> 00:36:01,722
Speaker 8: and would not spend it on any account, lest the

615
00:36:01,802 --> 00:36:07,042
Speaker 8: consciousness coming strong upon me I was entirely penniless. Might

616
00:36:07,162 --> 00:36:09,442
Speaker 8: suggest suicide.

617
00:36:09,722 --> 00:36:12,962
Speaker 2: And in a marginal note he records in his manuscript

618
00:36:13,002 --> 00:36:16,642
Speaker 2: for the book Roughing It, Sam Clemens documents his lowest

619
00:36:16,722 --> 00:36:19,482
Speaker 2: moment as he writes of how he decides perhaps he

620
00:36:19,522 --> 00:36:20,562
Speaker 2: ought to end it all.

621
00:36:21,442 --> 00:36:24,642
Speaker 8: I put the pistol to my head, and I wasn't

622
00:36:24,682 --> 00:36:28,922
Speaker 8: man enough to pull the trigger. Many times I've been

623
00:36:29,002 --> 00:36:32,522
Speaker 8: sorry I did not succeed, but I was never ashamed

624
00:36:32,562 --> 00:36:33,282
Speaker 8: of han't tried.

625
00:36:37,802 --> 00:36:41,962
Speaker 1: Despite this brush with self annihilation, his humor and sarcasm

626
00:36:42,122 --> 00:36:45,722
Speaker 1: remain intact. Sam later jokes about thoughts of self harm

627
00:36:45,762 --> 00:36:47,842
Speaker 1: the same way he'd joke about missing out on a

628
00:36:47,882 --> 00:36:51,522
Speaker 1: failing mining stock. Luckily for the floundering writer. About this

629
00:36:51,642 --> 00:36:54,642
Speaker 1: same time, an old friend comes back into his life.

630
00:36:54,962 --> 00:36:58,722
Speaker 7: Joe Goodman could see what Clemens was all about. He

631
00:36:58,882 --> 00:37:00,922
Speaker 7: knew this was a genius.

632
00:37:01,362 --> 00:37:04,162
Speaker 2: Joe was still at the Enterprise, so he rehires Sam

633
00:37:04,242 --> 00:37:08,082
Speaker 2: Clemens as a San Francisco correspondent. In daily Letters from

634
00:37:08,082 --> 00:37:10,442
Speaker 2: the Heart of the City, you see they flip it

635
00:37:10,482 --> 00:37:12,842
Speaker 2: around now he writes about the city for the folks

636
00:37:12,882 --> 00:37:13,682
Speaker 2: in Gold Country.

637
00:37:14,482 --> 00:37:19,122
Speaker 7: These are two thousand words and they are a gold

638
00:37:19,162 --> 00:37:22,442
Speaker 7: mine of early Mark Twain's writing. I mean he is

639
00:37:22,522 --> 00:37:27,002
Speaker 7: able to do things in these letters which show you

640
00:37:27,402 --> 00:37:28,242
Speaker 7: where he's going to go.

641
00:37:29,202 --> 00:37:32,202
Speaker 1: Writing in the Enterprise, Sam Clemens often pens critiques of

642
00:37:32,242 --> 00:37:35,722
Speaker 1: the San Francisco Police that captured the attention of Police

643
00:37:35,802 --> 00:37:36,522
Speaker 1: Chief Martin J.

644
00:37:36,682 --> 00:37:36,962
Speaker 8: Burke.

645
00:37:37,562 --> 00:37:39,882
Speaker 2: You have to understand at the time, the police in

646
00:37:39,882 --> 00:37:43,802
Speaker 2: San Francisco were not normal cops. The early Gold Rush

647
00:37:43,842 --> 00:37:46,722
Speaker 2: era San Francisco Police Department had been taken over by

648
00:37:46,722 --> 00:37:50,562
Speaker 2: a group called the Committee of Vigilance, and Sam Clemens

649
00:37:50,602 --> 00:37:54,482
Speaker 2: was quick to criticize these former self appointed vigilantes turn

650
00:37:54,562 --> 00:37:58,322
Speaker 2: police and their ideas of law and order through applied

651
00:37:58,402 --> 00:38:03,082
Speaker 2: violence and by running the vice operations themselves. The festering

652
00:38:03,162 --> 00:38:06,642
Speaker 2: tensions between sam Clemens and the San Francisco Police Department

653
00:38:06,682 --> 00:38:09,562
Speaker 2: were bound to come to a head just as sure

654
00:38:09,602 --> 00:38:12,402
Speaker 2: as the sun will come up tomorrow. The bubble finally

655
00:38:12,442 --> 00:38:15,962
Speaker 2: bursts for Sam when Steve Gillis gets in that bar

656
00:38:16,082 --> 00:38:18,002
Speaker 2: fight with Big Jim Casey.

657
00:38:18,922 --> 00:38:22,002
Speaker 7: Well, oh, first of all, let's realize that what would

658
00:38:22,042 --> 00:38:24,602
Speaker 7: happen if he had stayed was that he'ld be imprisoned

659
00:38:24,642 --> 00:38:27,042
Speaker 7: because he couldn't meet the bail. I mean, what he

660
00:38:27,082 --> 00:38:31,082
Speaker 7: had done was to basically bail Steve out with the

661
00:38:31,122 --> 00:38:34,042
Speaker 7: little money that he had, and if you stuck around,

662
00:38:34,122 --> 00:38:36,682
Speaker 7: he would be hit up for the rest of that

663
00:38:36,762 --> 00:38:37,482
Speaker 7: which he didn't have.

664
00:38:38,162 --> 00:38:41,082
Speaker 1: And add to that, Sam Clemens is keenly aware of

665
00:38:41,122 --> 00:38:43,682
Speaker 1: the fact the chief of Police can now use this

666
00:38:43,802 --> 00:38:47,922
Speaker 1: opportunity to get his personal revenge against the young newspaper man,

667
00:38:48,042 --> 00:38:50,962
Speaker 1: the one who's printed all those disparaging opinions about his

668
00:38:51,042 --> 00:38:51,722
Speaker 1: police force.

669
00:38:52,562 --> 00:38:55,042
Speaker 7: He's been sitting on their toes for a couple of

670
00:38:55,122 --> 00:38:57,482
Speaker 7: months in the Enterprise, so you ain't got a lot

671
00:38:57,522 --> 00:38:58,322
Speaker 7: of friends there.

672
00:38:58,362 --> 00:39:01,882
Speaker 1: He knows that Sam Clemens knows for certain that if

673
00:39:01,922 --> 00:39:04,442
Speaker 1: Steve Gillis jumps bail and makes a run for it,

674
00:39:04,482 --> 00:39:07,442
Speaker 1: which is likely, he'll have to pay the full bay amount,

675
00:39:07,442 --> 00:39:08,482
Speaker 1: which he does not have.

676
00:39:08,922 --> 00:39:11,682
Speaker 2: If he fails to pay up the San Francisco Police Department,

677
00:39:12,002 --> 00:39:15,202
Speaker 2: we'll get their bloody revenge on Sam Clements. They will

678
00:39:15,242 --> 00:39:17,282
Speaker 2: beat some respect into him.

679
00:39:17,682 --> 00:39:21,122
Speaker 1: Now. Aside from that bodily pressure, Bob Hurst believes Sam

680
00:39:21,122 --> 00:39:25,522
Speaker 1: Clemens also felt a more personal motivation to flee San Francisco.

681
00:39:26,362 --> 00:39:29,842
Speaker 7: My own view is that other things were really motivating

682
00:39:29,922 --> 00:39:32,442
Speaker 7: him to get out of town. And part of it

683
00:39:32,482 --> 00:39:35,162
Speaker 7: is just not knowing what he's going to do with

684
00:39:35,162 --> 00:39:39,282
Speaker 7: his own life. I mean, not knowing what kind of job,

685
00:39:39,362 --> 00:39:41,562
Speaker 7: what kind of career, what kind of profession he's going

686
00:39:41,642 --> 00:39:44,882
Speaker 7: to pursue. It's clear, as he says, humor is my

687
00:39:44,962 --> 00:39:47,402
Speaker 7: strongest suit. It's just nothing to be proud of.

688
00:39:48,322 --> 00:39:51,402
Speaker 2: And so when Steve suggests they make a run for it,

689
00:39:51,882 --> 00:39:55,442
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens listens to his friend say.

690
00:39:55,482 --> 00:39:58,602
Speaker 11: Sam says, Steve, if I have to go back to

691
00:39:58,642 --> 00:40:01,722
Speaker 11: Virginia City, and I guess I'd better you go up

692
00:40:01,722 --> 00:40:03,762
Speaker 11: to my two brothers on Jackass Hill and you stay

693
00:40:03,802 --> 00:40:06,482
Speaker 11: with them until this thing blows over. They will be

694
00:40:06,522 --> 00:40:08,802
Speaker 11: delighted to have you with him. There will be a

695
00:40:08,802 --> 00:40:11,522
Speaker 11: splendid vacation and adding for you, and you will have

696
00:40:11,562 --> 00:40:14,282
Speaker 11: the time of your life. It won't interfere in your

697
00:40:14,282 --> 00:40:16,402
Speaker 11: engagements with the papers for which you are writing here,

698
00:40:16,962 --> 00:40:18,402
Speaker 11: and you will be able to pick up a lot

699
00:40:18,442 --> 00:40:20,242
Speaker 11: of things that will help you as a writer.

700
00:40:21,042 --> 00:40:24,002
Speaker 2: On the lamb, sam Clemens can stay safe and free

701
00:40:24,042 --> 00:40:27,122
Speaker 2: from the violence of the SFPD, and it also gives

702
00:40:27,162 --> 00:40:31,402
Speaker 2: this rootless, underemployed young man with few prospects the time

703
00:40:31,482 --> 00:40:34,322
Speaker 2: he needs to decide what he should and what he

704
00:40:34,442 --> 00:40:37,442
Speaker 2: wants to do next. Should he listen to the advice

705
00:40:37,442 --> 00:40:40,322
Speaker 2: of his friend Artemis Warden, write for the big publishers

706
00:40:40,362 --> 00:40:43,682
Speaker 2: back east, or continue on as he would want to

707
00:40:43,962 --> 00:40:46,842
Speaker 2: as a newspaper man on the Pacific coast. All of

708
00:40:46,882 --> 00:40:49,162
Speaker 2: his answers would come to him at a place called

709
00:40:49,362 --> 00:40:53,882
Speaker 2: Jackass Hill. That's where Sam Clemens will finally strike it rich.

710
00:40:54,322 --> 00:40:57,322
Speaker 2: Only it isn't the gold he's always imagined. Rather, this

711
00:40:57,442 --> 00:41:00,722
Speaker 2: gold will arrive in the form of a magical frog.

712
00:41:05,882 --> 00:41:08,802
Speaker 2: In the first days of December eighteen sixty four, Sam

713
00:41:08,882 --> 00:41:12,042
Speaker 2: Clemens flees San Francisco like a thief. In the night,

714
00:41:12,362 --> 00:41:15,122
Speaker 2: he sneaks out of town on a steamship. He's again

715
00:41:15,282 --> 00:41:19,882
Speaker 2: back on a riverboat, this time headed east. The next day,

716
00:41:19,922 --> 00:41:23,482
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens takes the morning stagecoach into the Gold Country

717
00:41:23,722 --> 00:41:27,242
Speaker 2: to a town called Sonora. After long, dusty travel, he

718
00:41:27,322 --> 00:41:30,842
Speaker 2: finally arrives on December fourth. He makes his way to

719
00:41:30,922 --> 00:41:34,562
Speaker 2: the Gillis Cabin at the summit of Jackass Hill. The

720
00:41:34,642 --> 00:41:38,882
Speaker 2: nearest town is a small mining camp called Tuttletown, fifteen

721
00:41:39,002 --> 00:41:43,482
Speaker 2: hundred feet above sea level in the foothills of the Sierras. Now,

722
00:41:43,482 --> 00:41:47,162
Speaker 2: when Sam Clemens arrives, most of the gold is already gone.

723
00:41:47,282 --> 00:41:50,842
Speaker 2: The big gold strikes, the Bonanzas mother loads, they're all

724
00:41:50,882 --> 00:41:54,602
Speaker 2: things of the past. However, that doesn't stop Sam Clemens

725
00:41:54,602 --> 00:41:56,082
Speaker 2: from jumping into gold mining.

726
00:41:56,362 --> 00:41:57,442
Speaker 1: Since the big gold.

727
00:41:57,202 --> 00:42:00,402
Speaker 2: Deposits are all mined out, that leaves only small pockets

728
00:42:00,442 --> 00:42:04,322
Speaker 2: of gold which are picked over by what's called pocket miners.

729
00:42:04,922 --> 00:42:07,122
Speaker 2: That's what the brother of Steve Gillis does.

730
00:42:07,602 --> 00:42:10,522
Speaker 7: It's a very tenuous kind of existence as not as

731
00:42:10,522 --> 00:42:12,482
Speaker 7: if you're going to make it big in doing this,

732
00:42:12,802 --> 00:42:17,002
Speaker 7: and that's pretty clear that the Gillises and others who

733
00:42:17,002 --> 00:42:21,002
Speaker 7: were there with him just liked the freedom from civilized

734
00:42:21,202 --> 00:42:24,842
Speaker 7: city life. They liked being out in the country often

735
00:42:24,882 --> 00:42:26,802
Speaker 7: where is a good way to think of it, I think,

736
00:42:27,242 --> 00:42:30,922
Speaker 7: And because there were skilled at this, they could in

737
00:42:30,962 --> 00:42:33,242
Speaker 7: fact easily support themselves.

738
00:42:35,002 --> 00:42:38,402
Speaker 2: Living in the Gillis cabin with Sam or Steve Gillis's brothers,

739
00:42:38,522 --> 00:42:42,362
Speaker 2: Jim and William Gillis, and their mining partner Dick Stoker.

740
00:42:42,962 --> 00:42:46,202
Speaker 2: The Gillis Cabin is bitterly cold in winter, has no

741
00:42:46,282 --> 00:42:47,442
Speaker 2: indoor plumbing.

742
00:42:47,162 --> 00:42:48,282
Speaker 1: Not even an outhouse.

743
00:42:48,682 --> 00:42:51,882
Speaker 2: The men they all sleep in one big room on

744
00:42:52,002 --> 00:42:52,842
Speaker 2: wooden planks.

745
00:42:53,202 --> 00:42:54,482
Speaker 1: They cover themselves in.

746
00:42:54,562 --> 00:42:59,802
Speaker 2: Old, damp, mildewed, flea infested blankets. Add to this mix

747
00:42:59,842 --> 00:43:02,922
Speaker 2: that Dick Stoker brought with him and a menagerie of

748
00:43:02,962 --> 00:43:05,802
Speaker 2: animals he has with him in the cabin, a pig,

749
00:43:06,922 --> 00:43:13,082
Speaker 2: a jay, a skunk, and a cat. And now also

750
00:43:13,322 --> 00:43:16,202
Speaker 2: add in the dog that Jim Gillis takes with him

751
00:43:16,562 --> 00:43:21,282
Speaker 2: everywhere he goes. You can practically smell this cabin. The

752
00:43:21,362 --> 00:43:24,882
Speaker 2: place was ripe with life, and not nearly enough room

753
00:43:24,922 --> 00:43:28,002
Speaker 2: to house at all. Since it's deep in the winter.

754
00:43:28,082 --> 00:43:31,842
Speaker 2: When sam Clemens arrives, the men often spend a week

755
00:43:32,042 --> 00:43:37,202
Speaker 2: or more cooped up together, snowbounds stuck inside. For sam Clemens,

756
00:43:37,202 --> 00:43:39,562
Speaker 2: though life on the lamb from the law, life at

757
00:43:39,562 --> 00:43:43,762
Speaker 2: the Gillis Cabin, it feels like simple, rustic heaven, he

758
00:43:43,842 --> 00:43:45,802
Speaker 2: writes about it in his autobiography.

759
00:43:46,442 --> 00:43:48,322
Speaker 6: It was the most singular and the most touching and

760
00:43:48,362 --> 00:43:51,482
Speaker 6: melancholy exile that fancy can imagine we lived in a

761
00:43:51,522 --> 00:43:53,762
Speaker 6: small cabin on a verdant hillside, and then we're not

762
00:43:53,922 --> 00:43:56,362
Speaker 6: file of the cabins in view over the wide expanse

763
00:43:56,362 --> 00:43:57,282
Speaker 6: of hill and forest.

764
00:43:58,242 --> 00:44:00,722
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens he's up there on Jackass Hill for a

765
00:44:00,762 --> 00:44:04,762
Speaker 2: total of eighty eight days. For that nearly three months stretch,

766
00:44:04,882 --> 00:44:07,762
Speaker 2: living life on the lamb, he spends a lot of

767
00:44:07,842 --> 00:44:11,802
Speaker 2: time writing in his journals instead of doing any serious mining.

768
00:44:12,322 --> 00:44:15,562
Speaker 2: He fills out four notebooks while he's in Gold Country.

769
00:44:17,042 --> 00:44:20,362
Speaker 2: Over his time there at the Gillis Cabin. Enraptured by

770
00:44:20,362 --> 00:44:23,722
Speaker 2: this surrounding beauty and all the unfettered simplicity of nature,

771
00:44:24,002 --> 00:44:29,642
Speaker 2: sam Clemens just thinks, and he breathes, and he lets

772
00:44:29,762 --> 00:44:33,562
Speaker 2: life happen. At this point, he knows he wants to write,

773
00:44:34,122 --> 00:44:37,362
Speaker 2: but he hates that the writing he's best at is humor,

774
00:44:38,002 --> 00:44:41,242
Speaker 2: as Bob Hurst put it, quote that lowest form of writing.

775
00:44:41,722 --> 00:44:44,842
Speaker 2: And because of this, sam Clemens struggles with ideas for

776
00:44:44,882 --> 00:44:49,362
Speaker 2: his future. Meanwhile, up there in Gold Country, sam Clemens

777
00:44:49,402 --> 00:44:53,162
Speaker 2: also finds a couple of healthy distractions, namely a pair

778
00:44:53,202 --> 00:44:57,762
Speaker 2: of sisters. He relaxes with them for afternoon picnics, He

779
00:44:57,802 --> 00:45:00,842
Speaker 2: talks with them on long walks, and he spends many

780
00:45:00,882 --> 00:45:05,002
Speaker 2: hours in shady glens with them and Jim Gillis. They're

781
00:45:05,042 --> 00:45:08,482
Speaker 2: called the Danielle Sisters, Nellie and Molly. In her book

782
00:45:08,562 --> 00:45:12,162
Speaker 2: The Saga of Old tuolemy Edna Buckby describes the sisters

783
00:45:12,202 --> 00:45:14,082
Speaker 2: in a way that they come to life with the

784
00:45:14,122 --> 00:45:15,882
Speaker 2: broad brush that she paints them with.

785
00:45:16,322 --> 00:45:21,202
Speaker 7: They boasted of having the slimmest wastes, the largest bustles.

786
00:45:21,042 --> 00:45:25,082
Speaker 3: And the stiffest starched petticoats in the entire locality.

787
00:45:26,082 --> 00:45:28,962
Speaker 1: Sam Clemens will also later write about the sisters in

788
00:45:29,002 --> 00:45:30,842
Speaker 1: his book The Innocence Adrift.

789
00:45:31,722 --> 00:45:36,962
Speaker 8: They were sisters seventeen eighteen years old, respectively, beautiful creatures,

790
00:45:37,402 --> 00:45:42,122
Speaker 8: clean minded, good hearted, well meaning, favorites with old and young.

791
00:45:42,962 --> 00:45:47,122
Speaker 8: Yet they could outswear satan. It was the common speech

792
00:45:47,202 --> 00:45:51,162
Speaker 8: of the remote, thinly celled region. They had come by

793
00:45:51,242 --> 00:45:53,282
Speaker 8: it naturally, and if there was any harm in it,

794
00:45:53,402 --> 00:45:54,362
Speaker 8: they were not aware of it.

795
00:45:55,482 --> 00:45:59,442
Speaker 2: Despite this time spent squiring the Danielle's sisters around Gold

796
00:45:59,442 --> 00:46:02,802
Speaker 2: Country hills, Sam quickly grows to dislike life as a

797
00:46:02,842 --> 00:46:08,122
Speaker 2: pocket miner, enduring the poor weather, bad food, and worst coffee. Eventually,

798
00:46:08,202 --> 00:46:11,282
Speaker 2: he and Jim Gillis relocate to better accommodations in a

799
00:46:11,282 --> 00:46:15,162
Speaker 2: place called Angels Camp. He and Jim Gillis get rooms

800
00:46:15,162 --> 00:46:19,842
Speaker 2: at the Angel's Hotel. There they spend considerable time together

801
00:46:19,882 --> 00:46:22,762
Speaker 2: at the hotel's saloon. It's the only real hotel in

802
00:46:22,842 --> 00:46:26,002
Speaker 2: the camp. Thus it's the camp's main hangout spot. It's

803
00:46:26,042 --> 00:46:29,402
Speaker 2: where everyone stays dry and swaps stories by the wood stove.

804
00:46:29,962 --> 00:46:32,362
Speaker 2: So there he is in Angels Camp, hanging around a

805
00:46:32,442 --> 00:46:36,082
Speaker 2: tavern in this hotel, swapping tall tales and short stories

806
00:46:36,322 --> 00:46:39,842
Speaker 2: passed around a wood stove, and Sam Clemens meets an

807
00:46:39,842 --> 00:46:43,242
Speaker 2: old river boat pilot. The two men get to talking.

808
00:46:43,602 --> 00:46:46,442
Speaker 2: The fellow riverboat pilot tells him a story about a

809
00:46:46,482 --> 00:46:50,362
Speaker 2: peculiar jumping frog. It isn't the story per se, but

810
00:46:50,482 --> 00:46:53,602
Speaker 2: rather the way the man tells it. His funny little

811
00:46:53,682 --> 00:46:57,362
Speaker 2: yarn stays with Sam Clemens. He jots down the important

812
00:46:57,362 --> 00:47:00,762
Speaker 2: details in one of his notebooks. He records in his

813
00:47:00,842 --> 00:47:04,162
Speaker 2: notes just a scant amount of words. Coleman with his

814
00:47:04,282 --> 00:47:08,882
Speaker 2: jumpin frog, a stranger of fifty dollars. Stranger had no frog,

815
00:47:09,002 --> 00:47:12,122
Speaker 2: and see got him one. In the meantime, the stranger

816
00:47:12,162 --> 00:47:15,802
Speaker 2: filled cs frog full of shot and he couldn't jump.

817
00:47:15,962 --> 00:47:21,162
Speaker 2: The stranger's frog won. Sam Clemens lets the story ruminate

818
00:47:21,322 --> 00:47:25,202
Speaker 2: and percolate inside him for a while. Meanwhile, something in

819
00:47:25,282 --> 00:47:26,962
Speaker 2: him also signals.

820
00:47:26,522 --> 00:47:29,882
Speaker 1: It's time to leave Gold Country return to life in

821
00:47:29,922 --> 00:47:35,122
Speaker 1: San Francisco. One long and dusty stagecoach ride, later followed

822
00:47:35,162 --> 00:47:38,642
Speaker 1: by a slow riverboat trip, he's back home. When he

823
00:47:38,762 --> 00:47:41,322
Speaker 1: arrives back in the city, Sam Clemens finds the heat

824
00:47:41,402 --> 00:47:44,242
Speaker 1: was off, the cops aren't looking for him. Seems all

825
00:47:44,282 --> 00:47:47,562
Speaker 1: has been forgotten or swept away by the steady passage

826
00:47:47,562 --> 00:47:51,282
Speaker 1: of time and crime in the city. However, returning home,

827
00:47:51,402 --> 00:47:55,242
Speaker 1: Sam receives some bad news. He's missed important mail. It's

828
00:47:55,242 --> 00:47:58,322
Speaker 1: from his old friend Artemis Ward, as Sam later records

829
00:47:58,362 --> 00:47:58,602
Speaker 1: in his.

830
00:47:58,602 --> 00:48:03,002
Speaker 6: Notebook, February twenty sixth Home again, Home Again. At the

831
00:48:03,042 --> 00:48:07,682
Speaker 6: Occidental Hotel, San Francisco, find letters from Artemis asking me

832
00:48:07,762 --> 00:48:09,682
Speaker 6: to write a sketch for his new book of Nevada

833
00:48:09,762 --> 00:48:12,042
Speaker 6: Territory Travels, which is soon to come out.

834
00:48:12,682 --> 00:48:13,442
Speaker 7: Too late.

835
00:48:14,082 --> 00:48:16,642
Speaker 6: Oh to have gotten the letters three months ago. They're

836
00:48:16,722 --> 00:48:17,922
Speaker 6: dated in early November.

837
00:48:18,922 --> 00:48:21,762
Speaker 2: Away from the city, He's missed his big chance, or

838
00:48:21,802 --> 00:48:25,162
Speaker 2: so he thinks. Regardless, Sam Clemens starts to work on

839
00:48:25,282 --> 00:48:29,202
Speaker 2: stories he believes might interest Artemis ward stories he heard

840
00:48:29,282 --> 00:48:32,522
Speaker 2: up in Angels Camp, stories told at the Gillis Cabin

841
00:48:32,602 --> 00:48:35,202
Speaker 2: on Jackass Hill. But Sam Clemens.

842
00:48:34,842 --> 00:48:37,442
Speaker 1: Can't get any of these stories to work, not the

843
00:48:37,442 --> 00:48:41,362
Speaker 1: way he wants. He struggles with writer's block, he falls

844
00:48:41,402 --> 00:48:45,682
Speaker 1: into another of his blue spells. Then one afternoon he

845
00:48:45,762 --> 00:48:49,482
Speaker 1: has a dream about the frog, the frog from the

846
00:48:49,562 --> 00:48:52,162
Speaker 1: jumping contest story he heard back in Angels Camp from

847
00:48:52,202 --> 00:48:55,602
Speaker 1: the Riverboat Pilot. The frog comes to him in his dream,

848
00:48:55,642 --> 00:49:00,322
Speaker 1: and this jumping frog whispers that Sam should write his story,

849
00:49:01,202 --> 00:49:02,802
Speaker 1: as Sam records it in a letter.

850
00:49:03,722 --> 00:49:06,362
Speaker 6: One dismal afternoon, as I lay on my hotel bed,

851
00:49:07,122 --> 00:49:10,282
Speaker 6: determined to inform Ourtemis, I had nothing appropriate for his collections,

852
00:49:10,562 --> 00:49:13,322
Speaker 6: a still small voice began to make itself heard.

853
00:49:14,242 --> 00:49:15,642
Speaker 7: Try me, Try me.

854
00:49:16,562 --> 00:49:19,482
Speaker 6: It was the poor little jumping frog. Because of the

855
00:49:19,482 --> 00:49:22,402
Speaker 6: insistence of its pleading, and for want of a better subject,

856
00:49:22,562 --> 00:49:25,402
Speaker 6: I immediately got up and wrote out the tale. If

857
00:49:25,482 --> 00:49:27,962
Speaker 6: it hadn't been for that little fellow's apparition in this

858
00:49:28,042 --> 00:49:30,202
Speaker 6: strange fashion, I would have never written about him.

859
00:49:30,842 --> 00:49:35,122
Speaker 2: Sam Clemens doesn't question the dream's logic, nor the dictates

860
00:49:35,162 --> 00:49:38,282
Speaker 2: of the frog. Instead, he writes, and he writes some more,

861
00:49:38,402 --> 00:49:40,482
Speaker 2: and he writes some more after that, until he has

862
00:49:40,562 --> 00:49:48,922
Speaker 2: the story down on paper. What results is dubbed Jim

863
00:49:49,002 --> 00:49:52,082
Speaker 2: Smiley and His Jumping Frog, but the story will soon

864
00:49:52,162 --> 00:49:57,962
Speaker 2: be retitled The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. In

865
00:49:58,002 --> 00:50:02,002
Speaker 2: October of eighteen sixty five, with the Civil War now

866
00:50:02,042 --> 00:50:05,362
Speaker 2: over and the nation tending to its wounds as the

867
00:50:05,402 --> 00:50:09,842
Speaker 2: people stitched the country together, Sam Clemens sends his jumping

868
00:50:09,882 --> 00:50:13,962
Speaker 2: frog story back east. He sends it to George W. Carlton,

869
00:50:14,002 --> 00:50:17,202
Speaker 2: publisher for Artemis Ward. He sends it for a possible

870
00:50:17,202 --> 00:50:21,322
Speaker 2: inclusion in the upcoming book Artemis Ward His Travels, but

871
00:50:21,402 --> 00:50:25,282
Speaker 2: it's too late to include his jumping frog story. Instead,

872
00:50:25,322 --> 00:50:28,762
Speaker 2: the publisher Carlton forwards the story to the editor of

873
00:50:28,882 --> 00:50:32,442
Speaker 2: the Saturday Press. There the story is published, and it

874
00:50:32,562 --> 00:50:36,202
Speaker 2: is an instant's success, a comic delight for a nation

875
00:50:36,282 --> 00:50:38,602
Speaker 2: that's in the mood for a good old fashioned laugh.

876
00:50:39,442 --> 00:50:41,842
Speaker 2: As Bob Hurst reads it, you can hear that voice

877
00:50:41,882 --> 00:50:43,762
Speaker 2: of the narrator indeed come alive.

878
00:50:46,162 --> 00:50:49,802
Speaker 7: Well. This year Smiley had rat Terrius and Chickencox and

879
00:50:49,842 --> 00:50:52,522
Speaker 7: Tom Kats and all them kind of things till you

880
00:50:52,562 --> 00:50:55,282
Speaker 7: couldn't rest, and you couldn't fetch nothing for him to

881
00:50:55,322 --> 00:50:58,002
Speaker 7: bid on, but he'd match you. He catched a frog

882
00:50:58,082 --> 00:51:00,242
Speaker 7: one day and took him home and said he calculated

883
00:51:00,282 --> 00:51:04,042
Speaker 7: to educated. And so we never done nothing for three months.

884
00:51:04,122 --> 00:51:07,442
Speaker 7: Was set in his backyard and learn that frog to jump.

885
00:51:07,882 --> 00:51:10,722
Speaker 7: And you bet you he did learn him. He'd give

886
00:51:10,802 --> 00:51:13,202
Speaker 7: him a little hunch behind. The next minute, you see

887
00:51:13,202 --> 00:51:16,282
Speaker 7: that frog whirling in the air like a donut. See

888
00:51:16,362 --> 00:51:18,922
Speaker 7: him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple if he

889
00:51:19,042 --> 00:51:21,802
Speaker 7: got a good start and come down flat footed and

890
00:51:21,842 --> 00:51:24,402
Speaker 7: all right like a cat. He got him up so

891
00:51:24,562 --> 00:51:26,722
Speaker 7: in the matter of catching flies, and kept him in

892
00:51:26,802 --> 00:51:29,962
Speaker 7: practice so constant that he'd dale a fly every time

893
00:51:30,002 --> 00:51:32,482
Speaker 7: as far as he could see him. Smiley said all

894
00:51:32,522 --> 00:51:36,002
Speaker 7: a frog wanted was education, and he could do most anything.

895
00:51:36,962 --> 00:51:39,442
Speaker 7: And I believe him.

896
00:51:39,722 --> 00:51:43,482
Speaker 2: The jumping frog story gets reprinted all around the country

897
00:51:43,562 --> 00:51:48,362
Speaker 2: in newspaper after newspaper. Then it's reprinted all around the world.

898
00:51:48,722 --> 00:51:52,882
Speaker 2: It's a global phenomenon. One of the first. The jumping

899
00:51:52,922 --> 00:51:56,642
Speaker 2: frog story is also the beginning of Mark Twain's literary fame.

900
00:51:57,202 --> 00:52:00,362
Speaker 7: I think the basic plot, if you will is minimal.

901
00:52:00,562 --> 00:52:03,642
Speaker 7: It is, in fact, not really why we enjoy the

902
00:52:03,722 --> 00:52:04,642
Speaker 7: Jumping Frog story.

903
00:52:05,362 --> 00:52:09,602
Speaker 2: Bob Hurst also speaks to how how this narrator captivates readers.

904
00:52:09,642 --> 00:52:13,522
Speaker 7: Still, the substance of what he's saying isn't what's important.

905
00:52:14,602 --> 00:52:18,242
Speaker 7: It's how he's saying it, and that he's loquacious. He's

906
00:52:18,282 --> 00:52:21,602
Speaker 7: talking and he's not hesitating about how to describe this,

907
00:52:22,282 --> 00:52:25,882
Speaker 7: and you have an absolutely vivid picture of what these

908
00:52:25,962 --> 00:52:29,642
Speaker 7: animals were like. Now he's invested in them all kinds

909
00:52:29,682 --> 00:52:33,762
Speaker 7: of I guess projection, right, but I think that is

910
00:52:33,802 --> 00:52:38,002
Speaker 7: really what he's after here. It's the ingenuousness of the speech.

911
00:52:38,482 --> 00:52:42,922
Speaker 7: And now whatether that means he wants to elevate uneducated

912
00:52:43,002 --> 00:52:46,162
Speaker 7: characters above the rest of us. I wouldn't take it

913
00:52:46,162 --> 00:52:51,722
Speaker 7: that way. It's more that in their unlearnedness is a

914
00:52:51,842 --> 00:52:53,322
Speaker 7: kind of freshness.

915
00:52:53,322 --> 00:52:56,682
Speaker 2: And that's what sets Mark Twain's early writing apart. It's

916
00:52:56,762 --> 00:52:59,602
Speaker 2: what gives people of America a sense of this country's

917
00:52:59,642 --> 00:53:04,242
Speaker 2: own unique voice. With that noted freshness of perspective.

918
00:53:04,602 --> 00:53:07,642
Speaker 7: We enjoy the Jumping fris story because Mark Twain is

919
00:53:08,082 --> 00:53:12,442
Speaker 7: able to describe this guy's speech, the way he speaks

920
00:53:13,042 --> 00:53:16,282
Speaker 7: and what he says when he's trying to tell his story.

921
00:53:17,242 --> 00:53:20,402
Speaker 7: But the point is, the pleasure of this story isn't

922
00:53:20,442 --> 00:53:23,642
Speaker 7: in what happens. It isn't in the plot. It's in

923
00:53:23,682 --> 00:53:27,162
Speaker 7: the way Jim speaks. He is speaking in a way

924
00:53:27,202 --> 00:53:34,402
Speaker 7: which is deliberately not sophisticated, but is wonderfully evocative and

925
00:53:35,122 --> 00:53:38,442
Speaker 7: makes you see what's going on and understand what this

926
00:53:38,602 --> 00:53:41,202
Speaker 7: guy is all about in a way that no other

927
00:53:41,322 --> 00:53:45,202
Speaker 7: kind of formal dialect w a while. It's really an

928
00:53:45,242 --> 00:53:46,242
Speaker 7: amazing discovery.

929
00:53:47,642 --> 00:53:51,362
Speaker 2: In the Jumping Frog story, Sam Clemens finally discovers gold

930
00:53:51,642 --> 00:53:55,042
Speaker 2: his comic voice. There's an immediacy to it, even though

931
00:53:55,042 --> 00:53:57,362
Speaker 2: it's loquacious and talks around the situation.

932
00:53:58,482 --> 00:54:01,962
Speaker 7: That's, of course, the great innovation that he's going to

933
00:54:02,002 --> 00:54:07,402
Speaker 7: make is to tell an entire novel, entire story in

934
00:54:07,482 --> 00:54:11,202
Speaker 7: someone's voice. I mean, that's what Hemingway and all the

935
00:54:11,242 --> 00:54:14,482
Speaker 7: others are coming out. They see that as a liberation.

936
00:54:15,282 --> 00:54:18,002
Speaker 7: You don't have to be Henry James, you don't have

937
00:54:18,042 --> 00:54:22,162
Speaker 7: to have this very proper Bostonian or whatever English voice

938
00:54:22,202 --> 00:54:26,122
Speaker 7: telling the story. You can tell the story through a character.

939
00:54:26,802 --> 00:54:30,082
Speaker 2: The simple but consequential innovation is not an easy thing.

940
00:54:30,122 --> 00:54:31,522
Speaker 1: That he's accomplished and.

941
00:54:31,602 --> 00:54:34,082
Speaker 7: Not a simple thing at all. And I think really

942
00:54:34,122 --> 00:54:37,962
Speaker 7: that's what strikes Hemingway and everyone else. You'd be hard

943
00:54:37,962 --> 00:54:41,522
Speaker 7: to find a twentieth century writer, American writer who wouldn't

944
00:54:41,522 --> 00:54:46,962
Speaker 7: say Mark Twain started. And it's such a radical idea that,

945
00:54:47,642 --> 00:54:50,682
Speaker 7: I mean, you don't find it in short stories before this,

946
00:54:51,082 --> 00:54:53,482
Speaker 7: you don't find it in the literature before Mark Twin

947
00:54:53,642 --> 00:54:55,802
Speaker 7: did it. I think you could doubt that if it

948
00:54:55,842 --> 00:54:58,442
Speaker 7: were just English professors saying it. But it isn't just

949
00:54:58,562 --> 00:55:02,362
Speaker 7: English professor. It's basically writers saying it, and they should know.

950
00:55:03,322 --> 00:55:06,882
Speaker 2: Thanks to that magical frog, Sam Clemens breaks free from

951
00:55:07,162 --> 00:55:11,002
Speaker 2: all convention, all fear. He's able to hear and authentically

952
00:55:11,082 --> 00:55:14,562
Speaker 2: speak in the voice of the West. What results, although

953
00:55:14,682 --> 00:55:19,842
Speaker 2: wholly constructed, feels uniquely American. For the first time, America

954
00:55:19,882 --> 00:55:23,362
Speaker 2: can hear itself speak in the voice of Sam Clemens

955
00:55:23,762 --> 00:55:27,962
Speaker 2: and the people they laugh in response. The huge reception

956
00:55:28,122 --> 00:55:30,762
Speaker 2: to the Jumping Frog Story comes as a terrible shock

957
00:55:31,202 --> 00:55:35,922
Speaker 2: to one man, Sam Clemens. He feels his frog story

958
00:55:36,042 --> 00:55:39,402
Speaker 2: isn't literature. If anything, it was a lark, something he's

959
00:55:39,482 --> 00:55:43,002
Speaker 2: sent off to his friend for a book he cannot understand.

960
00:55:43,042 --> 00:55:45,762
Speaker 2: Why the whole world loves his dumb little frog story

961
00:55:45,882 --> 00:55:48,922
Speaker 2: so much. In a letter to his mother and sister

962
00:55:49,122 --> 00:55:53,322
Speaker 2: dated January twentieth, eighteen sixty six, Sam writes.

963
00:55:53,282 --> 00:55:55,882
Speaker 6: To think that after writing many an article, a man

964
00:55:55,962 --> 00:55:59,162
Speaker 6: might be excused for thinking we're tolerably good. Those New

965
00:55:59,242 --> 00:56:02,082
Speaker 6: York people should single out of Villain's backwoods sketch to

966
00:56:02,122 --> 00:56:05,202
Speaker 6: compliment me on Jim Smiley and is jumping from a

967
00:56:05,242 --> 00:56:07,402
Speaker 6: squip which never would have been written but to please

968
00:56:07,522 --> 00:56:10,322
Speaker 6: Artemis Ward, and then it reached New York too late

969
00:56:10,362 --> 00:56:11,442
Speaker 6: to appear in his book.

970
00:56:13,762 --> 00:56:16,642
Speaker 2: All things being equal, Sam Clemens would have rather been

971
00:56:16,802 --> 00:56:19,882
Speaker 2: a pilot on the Mississippi River. But he gets over

972
00:56:19,962 --> 00:56:23,162
Speaker 2: his nostalgia and his writer's block, and he will go

973
00:56:23,242 --> 00:56:25,962
Speaker 2: on to write the novels and books that will launch

974
00:56:26,082 --> 00:56:27,202
Speaker 2: American literature.

975
00:56:27,562 --> 00:56:29,002
Speaker 1: The author H. L.

976
00:56:29,082 --> 00:56:32,602
Speaker 2: Mankin once wrote that quote Twain was the first American

977
00:56:32,642 --> 00:56:35,762
Speaker 2: author of world rank to write a genuinely colloquial and

978
00:56:35,882 --> 00:56:41,202
Speaker 2: native American. More famously, Ernest Hemingway said, more to the point,

979
00:56:41,802 --> 00:56:44,962
Speaker 2: all modern American literature comes from one book by Mark

980
00:56:45,002 --> 00:56:49,642
Speaker 2: Twain called Huckleberry Finn. American writing comes from that. There

981
00:56:49,722 --> 00:56:53,162
Speaker 2: was nothing before and there's been nothing as good since now.

982
00:56:53,202 --> 00:56:56,842
Speaker 2: Even though Sam Clemens doesn't necessarily like the jumping frog Storry,

983
00:56:57,162 --> 00:57:00,442
Speaker 2: his resulting fame sends him to Hawaii, which results in

984
00:57:00,482 --> 00:57:03,522
Speaker 2: his book Innocents Abroad. This is the book that launches

985
00:57:03,522 --> 00:57:06,482
Speaker 2: his career as a public speaker and as a personality.

986
00:57:07,122 --> 00:57:10,482
Speaker 2: All of it begins with those eighty eight days on

987
00:57:10,602 --> 00:57:15,282
Speaker 2: Jackass Hill. On January twenty sixth, eighteen seventy, Sam Clemens

988
00:57:15,442 --> 00:57:17,922
Speaker 2: writes this letter to his old friend, the pocket miner

989
00:57:18,242 --> 00:57:21,922
Speaker 2: Jim Gillis, brother of Steve. He reminisces about their time

990
00:57:22,042 --> 00:57:25,882
Speaker 2: spent on Jackass Hill and how those days forever changed

991
00:57:25,922 --> 00:57:29,162
Speaker 2: the course of his life and his literary path.

992
00:57:30,602 --> 00:57:33,282
Speaker 8: It makes my heart ache yet to call to mind

993
00:57:33,402 --> 00:57:38,002
Speaker 8: some of those days. Yet it shouldn't, for the right depths,

994
00:57:38,002 --> 00:57:41,802
Speaker 8: of their poverty and their pocket minding bag of bondage

995
00:57:42,282 --> 00:57:45,922
Speaker 8: lay the germ of my coming good fortune. You remember

996
00:57:45,922 --> 00:57:49,002
Speaker 8: that one gleam of jollity that shot across our dismal

997
00:57:49,082 --> 00:57:52,202
Speaker 8: sojourn in the rain and mud of angels Camp. I

998
00:57:52,282 --> 00:57:54,682
Speaker 8: mean that day we sat around the tavern stove and

999
00:57:54,762 --> 00:57:56,802
Speaker 8: heard that chap tell about the frog and how they

1000
00:57:56,802 --> 00:57:59,602
Speaker 8: filled them with shot and you remember how we quoted

1001
00:57:59,722 --> 00:58:03,042
Speaker 8: from that yarn and laughed over it. I jotted down

1002
00:58:03,122 --> 00:58:05,602
Speaker 8: the story in my notebook that day and would have

1003
00:58:05,602 --> 00:58:07,802
Speaker 8: been glad to get down our fifteen dollars for it.

1004
00:58:08,202 --> 00:58:11,802
Speaker 8: I was just that blind. But then we were so

1005
00:58:12,042 --> 00:58:15,722
Speaker 8: hard up. I published that story, and I became widely

1006
00:58:15,802 --> 00:58:23,402
Speaker 8: known in America, India, China, England, and the reputation for

1007
00:58:23,562 --> 00:58:27,482
Speaker 8: me has paid me thousands and thousands of dollars since.

1008
00:58:33,322 --> 00:58:37,602
Speaker 5: And that was another very special episode. Great jobs, Aaron.

1009
00:58:37,722 --> 00:58:38,562
Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you.

1010
00:58:38,722 --> 00:58:41,682
Speaker 1: I always liked the idea that sometimes crime can save culture.

1011
00:58:41,762 --> 00:58:43,682
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think that that tickles me. I

1012
00:58:43,722 --> 00:58:45,802
Speaker 1: don't know why, but I love crime as we all know.

1013
00:58:46,162 --> 00:58:47,642
Speaker 3: You love crime as we all know.

1014
00:58:47,922 --> 00:58:49,962
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly what did you guys think about the San

1015
00:58:49,962 --> 00:58:52,482
Speaker 1: Francisco history of it all? Finding out that San Francisco

1016
00:58:52,522 --> 00:58:55,322
Speaker 1: has always been this libertine, free wheeling kind of culture,

1017
00:58:55,562 --> 00:58:57,562
Speaker 1: I mean, gave me hope that San Francisco will return

1018
00:58:57,642 --> 00:58:58,642
Speaker 1: the one that we knew then.

1019
00:58:59,042 --> 00:59:01,522
Speaker 5: Yeah, A lot of the stuff you get into makes

1020
00:59:01,562 --> 00:59:05,442
Speaker 5: me feel like a kind of sketch comedy troops like

1021
00:59:05,562 --> 00:59:07,962
Speaker 5: competing coming up up at the same time.

1022
00:59:08,242 --> 00:59:08,722
Speaker 1: Totally.

1023
00:59:08,802 --> 00:59:11,322
Speaker 5: When we get into the casting later, I think that

1024
00:59:11,322 --> 00:59:14,722
Speaker 5: that informed all my thoughts on who should play all

1025
00:59:14,762 --> 00:59:15,282
Speaker 5: these people.

1026
00:59:15,482 --> 00:59:18,842
Speaker 3: Oh that's very exciting in terms of casting, Zarn, where

1027
00:59:18,882 --> 00:59:20,522
Speaker 3: are you at? Because I feel like you've probably given

1028
00:59:20,562 --> 00:59:21,402
Speaker 3: this a lot of thought.

1029
00:59:21,842 --> 00:59:23,962
Speaker 1: I have, and I had only a hard time with

1030
00:59:24,122 --> 00:59:26,722
Speaker 1: one role to cast, and that was, of course, Mark Twain.

1031
00:59:26,802 --> 00:59:29,082
Speaker 1: I was like, who can play Mark Twain? How Holbrook

1032
00:59:29,242 --> 00:59:31,522
Speaker 1: killed the part when he played Mark Twain, so it's

1033
00:59:31,562 --> 00:59:33,602
Speaker 1: like who and he's gone now, so who? And then

1034
00:59:33,642 --> 00:59:38,002
Speaker 1: I realized Tom Hanks doing his best hel Hoolebrook, Right,

1035
00:59:38,202 --> 00:59:40,682
Speaker 1: you can see it for young Sam Clemens. I was

1036
00:59:40,682 --> 00:59:43,762
Speaker 1: thinking Casey Affleck, he just seems to have the right

1037
00:59:43,882 --> 00:59:47,682
Speaker 1: vibe for the Gillis brothers Jim Gillis, William Gillis and

1038
00:59:47,682 --> 00:59:49,962
Speaker 1: Steve Gillis. I'm like, okay, where we get three brothers.

1039
00:59:50,122 --> 00:59:53,922
Speaker 1: Came to me the Jonas brothers. Give him an acting part.

1040
00:59:54,162 --> 00:59:57,322
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that's interesting because you had Casey Affleck

1041
00:59:57,402 --> 00:59:59,442
Speaker 3: right there. You're not doing that for the brothers, You're

1042
00:59:59,922 --> 01:00:00,442
Speaker 3: saving him.

1043
01:00:00,482 --> 01:00:01,322
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, it's right there.

1044
01:00:01,322 --> 01:00:02,962
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't think Ben Affleck can play

1045
01:00:03,242 --> 01:00:05,482
Speaker 1: older Mark Twain. I don't think he can be one

1046
01:00:05,522 --> 01:00:07,642
Speaker 1: of the gillises he'll be we You're like, why is

1047
01:00:07,682 --> 01:00:09,842
Speaker 1: he fighting his brother or should they be together? You know,

1048
01:00:09,922 --> 01:00:12,562
Speaker 1: I don't know, so I thought, you know, go Jonas brothers.

1049
01:00:12,562 --> 01:00:14,602
Speaker 1: Give them their first chance on screen, you know, really

1050
01:00:14,602 --> 01:00:15,522
Speaker 1: see what they can do.

1051
01:00:15,762 --> 01:00:18,442
Speaker 3: I'm going to be dating myself. They used to have

1052
01:00:18,482 --> 01:00:22,322
Speaker 3: a Disney Channel television show, so they haven't been on screen.

1053
01:00:22,762 --> 01:00:23,962
Speaker 3: It was called Jonas.

1054
01:00:24,202 --> 01:00:26,042
Speaker 4: Yeah, the big screen though, have we? They then on

1055
01:00:26,042 --> 01:00:26,642
Speaker 4: the big screen?

1056
01:00:26,882 --> 01:00:30,762
Speaker 3: Well, if you think of camp Rock as a cinematic experience, which.

1057
01:00:31,562 --> 01:00:34,562
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah I did look past that. Oh my god,

1058
01:00:34,602 --> 01:00:38,922
Speaker 1: I'm so embarrassed. So see the Danielle sisters. I was

1059
01:00:38,962 --> 01:00:42,482
Speaker 1: thinking the Sydney Sweeney and Anna Taylor Joy For some reason,

1060
01:00:42,522 --> 01:00:45,402
Speaker 1: I thought they had, like, you know, pre iPhone faces

1061
01:00:45,522 --> 01:00:46,842
Speaker 1: enough to really nail that role.

1062
01:00:47,082 --> 01:00:48,762
Speaker 4: For Also for the Sheriff.

1063
01:00:48,442 --> 01:00:51,402
Speaker 1: Of San Francisco, same thing, pre iPhone face requirement.

1064
01:00:51,522 --> 01:00:53,042
Speaker 4: Jesse Plemmons, love.

1065
01:00:52,962 --> 01:00:55,162
Speaker 3: Jesse Plemmons for this. Put him in a period piece

1066
01:00:55,162 --> 01:00:56,922
Speaker 3: and I'm thrilled, Right, I.

1067
01:00:56,922 --> 01:01:00,122
Speaker 4: Just got period piece face. And then Big Jim Casey.

1068
01:00:59,802 --> 01:01:02,082
Speaker 1: The proprietor of the bar, I wanted to bring back

1069
01:01:02,122 --> 01:01:04,922
Speaker 1: a WWE wrestler. You could pick your favorite I'm going

1070
01:01:05,042 --> 01:01:08,042
Speaker 1: with the big show. A seven foot tall, fifty year

1071
01:01:08,042 --> 01:01:09,562
Speaker 1: old man is perfect for this role.

1072
01:01:09,962 --> 01:01:13,722
Speaker 4: And then last up, Emperor Norton. I think I've cast

1073
01:01:13,802 --> 01:01:14,522
Speaker 4: him before. Bet.

1074
01:01:14,522 --> 01:01:16,762
Speaker 1: I love the guy Sam Rockwell. He just has the

1075
01:01:16,802 --> 01:01:18,602
Speaker 1: chaotic energy he can pull this off.

1076
01:01:18,642 --> 01:01:21,362
Speaker 4: So there you go. There's my casting. What do y'all think.

1077
01:01:21,522 --> 01:01:25,282
Speaker 3: Sam Rockwell as Ember Norton is kind of inspired.

1078
01:01:25,362 --> 01:01:25,922
Speaker 5: I love that.

1079
01:01:26,602 --> 01:01:28,922
Speaker 1: I always think of him as Zafad Biebelbrockx and the

1080
01:01:29,842 --> 01:01:31,842
Speaker 1: Hitchhiger's Guide of the Galaxy, and that let me see

1081
01:01:32,122 --> 01:01:33,802
Speaker 1: how far that guy's willing to go.

1082
01:01:34,002 --> 01:01:37,882
Speaker 5: So tell us about your interview with the Emperor. Is

1083
01:01:37,922 --> 01:01:41,482
Speaker 5: he someone that you interact with usually? And when you're

1084
01:01:41,522 --> 01:01:42,242
Speaker 5: in San Francisco?

1085
01:01:42,562 --> 01:01:44,682
Speaker 1: I do look for him. Anytime I'm in that area

1086
01:01:44,722 --> 01:01:47,202
Speaker 1: of town, I look to see because he does. At

1087
01:01:47,242 --> 01:01:49,962
Speaker 1: eleven o'clock he'll be out there in the Union Square

1088
01:01:50,042 --> 01:01:52,042
Speaker 1: getting ready to start his tourist Then I know now

1089
01:01:52,082 --> 01:01:53,842
Speaker 1: and know which way he goes, So if I'm over

1090
01:01:53,882 --> 01:01:56,042
Speaker 1: there around noon, I'm looking for him. The guy is

1091
01:01:56,082 --> 01:01:58,362
Speaker 1: super fun. I recommend it to anybody who goes to

1092
01:01:58,362 --> 01:02:00,722
Speaker 1: San Francisco. It's one of the coolest guided tours. I've

1093
01:02:00,722 --> 01:02:02,642
Speaker 1: ever done. I've only done like three in my life,

1094
01:02:02,682 --> 01:02:04,922
Speaker 1: so that's kind of a low bar, but still very good.

1095
01:02:04,962 --> 01:02:06,522
Speaker 3: All right, next time I'm in San Francisco.

1096
01:02:07,042 --> 01:02:09,082
Speaker 4: The list, Oh nicee, I'll let him know.

1097
01:02:09,242 --> 01:02:12,802
Speaker 5: Do you think historical characters should be almost like AI

1098
01:02:13,162 --> 01:02:16,362
Speaker 5: just in if you want to interact with them, they

1099
01:02:16,362 --> 01:02:18,562
Speaker 5: should be there and willing to tell that story. He

1100
01:02:18,682 --> 01:02:21,922
Speaker 5: was great, great, great decision to go talk to him

1101
01:02:21,962 --> 01:02:23,682
Speaker 5: and get him to fill in some of the details.

1102
01:02:23,802 --> 01:02:25,162
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was just a really fun guy and he

1103
01:02:25,202 --> 01:02:27,282
Speaker 1: seemed to have the spirit. He embodied the spirit of

1104
01:02:27,322 --> 01:02:30,642
Speaker 1: the story and also reminding me never let money get

1105
01:02:30,642 --> 01:02:32,122
Speaker 1: in the way of a good time, so if you

1106
01:02:32,122 --> 01:02:34,122
Speaker 1: have it, you don't have it, never letting get in

1107
01:02:34,122 --> 01:02:34,402
Speaker 1: the way.

1108
01:02:34,442 --> 01:02:35,082
Speaker 4: So there you go.

1109
01:02:35,162 --> 01:02:38,122
Speaker 5: Well, he was my very special character, so he wins

1110
01:02:38,202 --> 01:02:39,082
Speaker 5: this segment for me.

1111
01:02:39,322 --> 01:02:42,162
Speaker 3: I'm a big fan of the Emperor myself. I have

1112
01:02:42,202 --> 01:02:44,602
Speaker 3: to agree with Jason there. He's a character I've talked

1113
01:02:44,602 --> 01:02:48,002
Speaker 3: about on my podcast Noble Blood. He also I don't

1114
01:02:48,002 --> 01:02:50,722
Speaker 3: know if any of you have read Neil Gaman Sandman,

1115
01:02:50,962 --> 01:02:54,962
Speaker 3: but he's a character in that. Oh no, yeah, it's

1116
01:02:55,082 --> 01:02:57,642
Speaker 3: just he's great. So if anyone also hasn't read Sandman.

1117
01:02:57,842 --> 01:02:59,122
Speaker 3: Just go read all of it.

1118
01:02:59,482 --> 01:03:01,642
Speaker 4: Okay, that's on my list. Now I'm gonna go do it.

1119
01:03:02,002 --> 01:03:02,602
Speaker 9: Yeah.

1120
01:03:02,642 --> 01:03:05,922
Speaker 1: Did you guys notice how Mark Twain's friends in this

1121
01:03:06,002 --> 01:03:08,522
Speaker 1: story were constantly giving them him the perspective, like we

1122
01:03:08,562 --> 01:03:11,002
Speaker 1: had Artemis Ward who pulls him off his path? Right,

1123
01:03:11,202 --> 01:03:13,602
Speaker 1: So I was thinking, that's a lesson I think people

1124
01:03:13,642 --> 01:03:15,442
Speaker 1: should take away from this is be thankful when your

1125
01:03:15,482 --> 01:03:17,362
Speaker 1: friends see something about you that you don't.

1126
01:03:17,602 --> 01:03:19,962
Speaker 5: A lot of good lessons in this one. I love

1127
01:03:19,962 --> 01:03:25,042
Speaker 5: your line about he finally discovers gold and it's not gold.

1128
01:03:25,122 --> 01:03:28,242
Speaker 5: I mean, he's getting into the gold rush. It would

1129
01:03:28,242 --> 01:03:31,642
Speaker 5: be like getting into NFTs today. This is where I'm

1130
01:03:31,682 --> 01:03:33,762
Speaker 5: gonna make my mark here.

1131
01:03:34,122 --> 01:03:35,202
Speaker 3: That is a great lesson.

1132
01:03:35,482 --> 01:03:36,002
Speaker 7: Yeah.

1133
01:03:36,082 --> 01:03:38,922
Speaker 5: I love seeing him at that period where oh there's

1134
01:03:38,922 --> 01:03:40,962
Speaker 5: something that people like that I do and I'm a

1135
01:03:41,002 --> 01:03:42,682
Speaker 5: little bit ashamed of what that is.

1136
01:03:43,722 --> 01:03:45,602
Speaker 1: That tension I relate.

1137
01:03:45,682 --> 01:03:46,042
Speaker 4: I get it.

1138
01:03:46,042 --> 01:03:46,962
Speaker 5: We're all better for it.

1139
01:03:47,362 --> 01:03:48,082
Speaker 4: Oh totally.

1140
01:03:48,482 --> 01:03:50,602
Speaker 1: Also, if anytime you have a magical animal appear to

1141
01:03:50,602 --> 01:03:52,202
Speaker 1: you in a dream, you've got to listen to the

1142
01:03:52,242 --> 01:03:53,922
Speaker 1: magic animal. I mean that's just the rule and my

1143
01:03:54,002 --> 01:03:54,642
Speaker 1: other good lesson.

1144
01:03:54,762 --> 01:03:56,962
Speaker 3: Yeah, these are the lessons listen to your friends and

1145
01:03:57,002 --> 01:03:59,882
Speaker 3: listen to Magic Animals. This is a very very special

1146
01:03:59,922 --> 01:04:01,962
Speaker 3: episode with all the wisdom we're dolling out.

1147
01:04:05,322 --> 01:04:08,122
Speaker 5: Very special episodes is made by some very special people.

1148
01:04:08,522 --> 01:04:11,602
Speaker 5: This show was hosted by Danish Schwartz, Zaren Burnett and

1149
01:04:11,722 --> 01:04:15,322
Speaker 5: me Jason English. Today's episode was written by Zaren Burnett.

1150
01:04:15,802 --> 01:04:19,562
Speaker 5: Our producer is Josh Fisher. Editing and sound design by

1151
01:04:19,682 --> 01:04:24,202
Speaker 5: Josh Fisher and Jonathan Washington. Mixing and mastering by Beheth Frasier.

1152
01:04:24,802 --> 01:04:29,002
Speaker 5: Original music by Elise McCoy. Our story editor is Barisa Brown.

1153
01:04:29,362 --> 01:04:32,882
Speaker 5: Research in fact checking by Austin Thompson. Show logo by

1154
01:04:32,962 --> 01:04:36,362
Speaker 5: Lucy Quintinia. We have some special guests and voice actors

1155
01:04:36,362 --> 01:04:39,802
Speaker 5: to thank today. Mark Twain was portrayed by Frank Nemick,

1156
01:04:40,202 --> 01:04:44,522
Speaker 5: Sam Clemens by Zack Nemeck, Edna Buckbee by Elizabeth Dutton,

1157
01:04:45,002 --> 01:04:48,162
Speaker 5: William Gillis by Jonathan Washington. As I want to thank

1158
01:04:48,202 --> 01:04:51,322
Speaker 5: Bob Hirsch from the Mark Twain Archive at UC Berkeley

1159
01:04:51,482 --> 01:04:55,802
Speaker 5: and Joseph Amster, Emperor Norton himself from the Emperor Norton's

1160
01:04:55,922 --> 01:04:59,722
Speaker 5: Fantastic San Francisco Time Machine. I am your executive producer.

1161
01:04:59,962 --> 01:05:01,922
Speaker 5: If you'd like to email the show. You can reach

1162
01:05:02,002 --> 01:05:05,402
Speaker 5: us at Very Special Episodes at gmail dot com. Very

1163
01:05:05,442 --> 01:05:10,442
Speaker 5: Special Episodes is a production. Buy her Podcasts M