Mark Twain Becomes A Westerner

Learn how Twain and thousands of other newcomers shed earlier identities in their quest to fit into a culture of rugged individualism, learning to survive in an often violent and dangerous environment, with an emphasis on Western mining and travel.

At the age of 25, Samuel Clemens lost his dream job as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River when the Civil War broke out. When his older brother was offered a job as Secretary for the Territory of Nevada, Sam jumped at the chance to join him. Together they traveled by stagecoach from St Louis, Missouri, to Carson City, Nevada.

Sam tried his hand at a variety of jobs, notably gold and silver mining, but met with no success. Offered a job as a reporter for the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City, he finally found his
vocation, writing about his experiences in Nevada, California and Hawaii.  Many Americans first learned about the West from reading Roughing It, written after Sam Clemens had adopted the pen name Mark Twain.