Roughing It

Note: The contents of Chapter 1 correspond to Chapters 1-18 in print editions of the book.

The book begins in 1861 with the author stating his intention to travel west. His brother has just been appointed secretary to the governor of the Nevada Territory. At the time, Twain is 26 and enthused at the ideal of journeying on the Overland Stage Line. He is keen to be a hero and write home about his adventures: “Among the mountains of the Far West, [he] would see buffaloes and Indians, and prairie dogs, and antelopes, and have all kinds of adventures, and may be get hanged or scalped, and have ever such a fine time” (19). Twain anticipates a pleasure junket that will last three months but informs the reader that he won’t end up returning home for almost seven years.

The overland stagecoach route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, is 1,900 miles long and takes about 18 days to complete, though Twain’s party will disembark short of that point in Carson City, Nevada. Twain and his brother will board a coach that travels day and night. The driver and conductor may be switched at one of the many stations that are maintained at regular intervals along the route. Both passengers have brought heavy trunks but are only allowed to carry 25 pounds of luggage with them. This is because the coach is stuffed with mail that will need to be delivered along the way. The fare to Carson City is $150 per person—approximately $5,600 in today’s currency.

The brothers send their additional belongings home and board the coach. The only other passenger is a man named Geroge Bemis, who likes to tell tall tales. The passengers at first enjoy rolling farmland scenery, but this soon gives way to 700 miles of monotonously flat plains. During this stretch of the journey, Twain spends some time contemplating an animal he calls “the jackass rabbit” because of its donkey-like ears (32). The passengers amuse themselves by firing bullets near the creature to see it running away at top speed. As the coach bumps along, the travelers are frequently assaulted by the stacks of mail and books stored precariously inside the coach. Eventually, the men stop trying to sit upright and sleep on top of the piles instead.

Aside from the discomfort of the coach, Twain also describes one of the stations where the coach stops to change horses and allow the passengers to eat. The station keepers and hostlers fawn on the driver but pay little attention to the conductor and none at all to the travelers. The food they serve, including expired army rations and a foul-tasting tea called “slumgullion,” is vile.

Twain mentions that the way stations are frequently staffed by rough characters who are running from the law. They are only kept in line by division agents who are even more ruthless than they are. The most formidable of these is Jack Slade. He manages to keep order on the overland route by killing anyone who defies him. Twain meets Slade at one of the stations and is fearful of his formidable reputation, but the man behaves like a perfect gentleman. Unfortunately, Slade’s manner changes drastically when he’s had too much to drink. Twain relates Slade’s demise, which comes when he tears up a town in Nevada and is hanged by a group of vigilantes.

The passengers have time to participate in a buffalo hunt on their journey. Bemis ends up being chased by a bull buffalo and disappears from sight. Later, he tells a highly improbably tale of the buffalo climbing a tree to reach him. He claims to have fashioned a noose and lynched the buffalo from the tree before shooting it. Twain and his brother are skeptical of this narrative.

As the coach continues westward, the passengers are eager to catch a glimpse of the Pony Express riders who travel the same route at about twice the stagecoach’s speed. When one of these legendary riders finally does pass the coach, he vanishes at top speed in the blink of an eye.

The stage now advances into Indigenous territory, and the travelers are wary of a possible attack. Fortunately, no incidents occur, but the driver and conductor claim that they are being silently watched as they continue their journey. One night, the passengers awaken to the sound of gunfire and a struggle outside. In the morning, the conductor tells them that at one of their station stops, the driver was attacked and killed by a group of bandits whom he’d insulted. Neither the conductor nor the new driver seems particularly concerned about his fate: “They plainly had little respect for a man who would deliver offensive opinions of people and then be so simple as to come into their presence unprepared” (78).

As they cross the alkali desert on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, the passengers are startled by the sight of animal bones that give off a glow of phosphorus at night. Eventually, the coach reaches civilization in Salt Lake City. The passengers are relieved to have the first decent meal they’ve enjoyed on their long journey. At the time, Utah is still a territory under the rule of Brigham Young, whom Twain calls “the only absolute monarch in America” (107).

While the passengers are curious about Mormon customs and beliefs, they don’t get much information from the locals. The culture is resistant to outside influence and has defied the American government in the past. One gentile recounts the story of his business dealings with Mormons who refused to honor a contract. He appealed to Brigham Young to settle the dispute, and the matter was instantly resolved. He tells Twain, “There is a batch of governors, and judges, and other officials here, shipped from Washington […] but the petrified truth is that Utah is an absolute monarchy and Brigham Young is king!” (117).

Twain pokes a good deal of fun at Brigham Young by describing a fictional situation in which he tries to placate over 50 wives to maintain domestic harmony. One local man advises Twain that the best way to ensure peace is to limit the number of one’s wives to a dozen. Twain also takes a copy of the Mormon bible when he leaves town and critiques its rambling prose style: “The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so ‘slow,’ so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print” (127). Twain’s only other complaint about Salt Lake City is the high prices. The difficulty of shipping items over the mountains to this location inflates the cost of everything. Elsewhere in the country, one would pay a penny for something that costs a quarter in Utah.

After leaving the metropolis, the stagecoach travels through a stretch of desert. Twain and his companions are enthusiastic about the romantic notion of crossing a desert, but the heat, dryness, and slow pace of the coach make them all wish to be elsewhere, and they are overjoyed when they reach the other side.