In 1861 Samuel Clemens gave up on the Civil War. Having determined that he had done enough, he opted to leave.
The unemployed riverboat pilot set out from Missouri to Nevada with his brother, Orion, and along the way Samuel Clemens had the experiences that made him one of the most well-known authors in American history, Mark Twain.
"Lighting Out for the Territory" chronicles the path that Clemens took and attempts to separate fact from embezzled fiction as the author explores how Clemens made the transition to Twain.
Clemens held a variety of jobs including silver miner, gold prospector, stock trader, mill worker and newspaper writer before becoming a novelist. It was as a newspaper writer that Clemens began his embellishment and keen storytelling that made his stories irresistible. He would often fabricate headlines and even events — once going as far as to fabricate a serial killer who was supposedly on the loose. When found out, he simply stated, "I take it all back."
"Lighting Out for the Territory" is a charming read that combines Twain's wit and humor with the background to the famous novels such as "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer."
Perhaps the most intriguing part is watching Clemens transform into Twain. Clemens did not know that his destiny was to become one of the most celebrated authors of all time, and his everyday approach to life humanizes him and helps the reader relate.
"Lighting Out" also shows how, during his travels throughout the West, Clemens received inspiration for his stories that would become enshrined in American literary history.
Clemens even visited Utah, where he gathered much of his inspiration for the book "Roughing It." While in the Utah Territory, Clemens met with Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. The two were the inspiration for the character Johnson.
While Clemens held no grudge against the Mormons, many of the statements he made and that were printed in his books were far from flattering. Twain blasted polygamy, Utah and The Book of Mormon (calling it "chloroform in print") and his description of Young, like all of his other writings, was a bit of an exaggeration.
"Lighting Out for the Territory" is a great read for everyone who has read Twain's American classics. It is a descriptive telling of Western history during the 1860s.
e-mail: sbracken@desnews.com