Roughing It

Note: The contents of Chapter 3 correspond to Chapters 42-51 in print editions of the book.

After failing as a miner, Twain casts about for a way to make a living. His father left no inheritance on which he could rely: “Although he left us a sumptuous legacy of pride in his fine Virginian stock and its national distinction, I presently found that I could not live on that alone without occasional bread to wash it down with” (292). Twain has never considered a career as a writer and is surprised when his letters to the editor are frequently published. It comes as a shock when he receives an offer of $25 a week to serve as city editor for the Virginia Daily Territorial Enterprise. When Twain starts the job, news is slow in Virginia City. The chief editor advises him to wander around town and question everybody about everything. When this fails to produce results, the new reporter is told to question the drivers of any hay wagons that might have come to town. After a desperado kills a man in a saloon brawl, Twain is ecstatic to have enough copy to fill two columns in the newspaper. He says, “When I read them over in the morning I felt that I had found my legitimate occupation at last” (298).