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Monday, February 16, 2015

Jumping Frogs and Jackass Hill


Calaveras County Fairgrounds Gate

Angels Camp in Calaveras County started as one of many placer gold mining towns in the foothills of California with a post office established in 1851. However, much of its current fame has less to do with gold mining and more to do with jumping frogs. You can see from the signage at the Calaveras County fairgrounds that the Jumping Frog Jubilee held there every May is BIG. The city of Angels Camp is often referred to as Frogtown.

Frogtown Logo at Fairgrounds
While young Samuel Clemens stayed as a guest of the Gillis Brothers on Jackass Hill between Sonora and Angels Camp, he gathered material for the short story which brought him his first fame, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,”  and for his book, Roughing It.
 
 
Mark Twain Cabin, Jackass Hill, Tuolumne County, CA
Samuel Clemens, who later adopted the pen name of Mark Twain, traveled with his friend Steve Gillis over the mountains from Virginia City, Nevada, and arrived at the cabin on Jackass Hill on December 4, 1864. They stayed with two other Gillis brothers, Jim and Bill, and also with Dick Stoker, all local pocket miners. He lived there until about February 25, 1865. 

The area was surrounded by cities and towns that came into existence due to the gold strikes. Angels Camp is located north of the cabin and across the Stanislaus River. It attracted placer miners until the surface gold disappeared. A few years later, a new gold boom developed due to the discovery of gold-producing quartz. Samuel and his companions would have bought their provisions there or at Tuttletown to the south.

Angels Hotel in Angels Camp where Sam Clemens first heard the jumping frog story.

Original chimney built with native stone

It was while living on the hill and visiting a saloon at the Angels Hotel that Samuel heard the story about the jumping frog. The hotel in 1851 was a tent, but a stone structure was built in 1855 with the second story added in 1857.

In the story, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler. The tale is about the gambler, Jim Smiley, who trained a frog to jump and then had the tables turned on him when he placed a bet. The published story ended up capturing the world’s attention.

Twain’s friend, Artemus Ward, asked Sam Clemens/Mark Twain to write the story for inclusion in a book. Twain wrote two versions of the story, but was unhappy with both. By the time he had rewritten it so he was satisfied with it, the book was nearing publication and the story could not be added. Instead, Artemus submitted the short story to The Saturday Press. It appeared in its November 18, 1865 edition as “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.”

Cover of 1867 Book
Although he had been writing and publishing for years, it was this short story that catapulted Mark Twain to national fame. Some of the other tall tales told by his cabin mates made their way into some of Mark Twain’s stories, but none had the far-reaching appeal as the story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”
1867 portrait by Abdullah Fréres

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is also the title story of an 1867 collection of short stories by Mark Twain which was his first published book. That book was a collection 27 previously published in magazines and newspapers stories.

The hill on which the cabin was built yielded very coarse gold amounting to about $10,000 taken from 100 square feet of ground. The cabin in which Samuel Clemens stayed was a stopping place for packers carrying supplies to miners. Often 200 jackasses on the hill overnight furnished a concert for their human audience, no doubt prompting the name given to the place, Jackass Hill.

Jackass Hill cabin in early January 2015
Between 2002-2005, a replica of the cabin was built using the original chimney and fireplace.

Although it gets cold in winter, at about 1,800 feet elevation, there is very minimal snow and perhaps only a few weeks of frost each year. These pictures of the cabin were taken in early January of 2015. It was a mild climate in which Mark Twain and his compatriots could pass two winters -- assuming they could stand five people living in the cabin within easy listening distance to braying  jackasses.


By the time twenty  years had passed since Mark Twain's sojourn in the western Sierra-Nevada Mountain foothills, known as the Mother Lode, most gold mining had moved to the eastern Sierra-Nevada slopes, including in Lundy where my lastest novella, Big Meadows Valentine, is set. Both Jackass Hill and Lundy are relatively close to the Sonora Pass used in the 1880s for transporting commodities over the mountains to the mining regions in the eastern part of the state.

Although Big Meadows Valentine does include a Valentine's Day scene, it begins early in the winter of the year 1884. This book is the first in a series, "Eastern Sierra Brides 1884." Each novella is written as a stand-alone book, but the series will follow many of the same characters in the mining town of Lundy and the agricultural community of Bridgeport in the eastern Sierra-Nevada region of Mono County.

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. Her novella, Big Meadows Valentine, is now available on Amazon Kindle HERE and on B & N Nook HERE. Please visit the Zina Abbott’s Amazon Author Page by clicking HERE.  
 



12 comments:

  1. Great post Robyn--really enjoyed reading about this little slice of history.

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    1. Thank you, Kristy. What was so neat, I didn't have to travel far to find it. I've been to Jackass Hill before, but focused on the cabin rather than the whole Mark Twain history surrounding it.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  2. Good Morning Robyn. My goodness such an interesting blog today. I had no idea Mark Twain was such a traveler. His writings bring to mind Indian Joe and Huck Finn instead. I can't imagine living in that tiny cabin on Jackass Hill, with five or more men. Makes one wonder who did the cooking? Good luck to you on your new series.

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    1. Barbara -- I know. I think the big rivers back east when I think of Mark Twain. But, he was out west trying to find himself in the early 1860's -- not to mention that was a good place to be for those who didn't want to get tangled up in the Civil War. All the cabin had for cooking as far as I could tell was the fireplace, so they probably just kept a pot of beans or stew going most of the time. Living in a one room cabin the size of a bedroom probably gave them cabin fever to the point it sure would motivate me to get out and write.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  3. Great post!

    I love pretty much anything written by Mark Twain. I believe Artemus Ward (Charles Browne) was a big influence on Twain's lecture style. He was a humorist, too. Popular in his day, but didn't reach the same pinnacle as Twain.

    Eastern Sierra Brides looks like an interesting series. And with chickens, no less. Where do the frogs come in? ;)

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. No frogs in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series. They were on the other side of the mountains which gets more rain -- relatively speaking. We haven't had that much in the last four years, so I don't know how our little foothill froggies are doing.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  4. I have always been a fan of Sam Clemens. Grew up about 70 miles from his home town, and related to his type of humor. And of course, history, I'm all about that. Loved this post and the fun facts is contained. Thank you.

    This series sounds like a winner and I wish you the best on all of them. Doris McCraw/Angela Raines

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    1. Thank you, Doris. No doubt that Mark Twain is an American literary icon, but this little bit of his history shows it wasn't always so. He struggled for years to find his way before he rose to fame.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  5. And I thought I knew just about everything about Mark Twain. I loved his story. I really love the name of the town--Jackass Hill. LOL I may have an ex-husband there. This was a wonderful blog, Robyn. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
    All the best!

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. You are being overly generous calling the place a town. It was a one room one cabin way station from what I can tell. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  6. Robyn, this was really interesting! My dad was a huge fan of Mark Twain's books/writings. I saw a really interesting documentary on PBS not long ago, or the end of it, really, where it spoke about his daughter and their relationship--very sad. And how he began to slip into dementia at the end of his life. I love the part about Jackass Hill--that is so apropos. LOL

    Cheryl

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    1. Thank you, Cheryl. It was fun to travel Hwy 49 in the foothills. We were at the fairgrounds for a gun show, so, of course, I took pictures. We have always been ones to stop and read historical markers when we travel. By the time we reached the marker at the foot of Jackass Hill, I knew there was a blog post in the making.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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