1918: Mark Twain (?) in Jargon-related PNW folklore
It’s a lot of fun to discover little bits of Pacific Northwest oral traditions, and this one involves two nationally famous men!
In the published record of the case Seufert Brothers vs. USA, heard at the United States Supreme Court in 1916-1917, I found four separate comments about famous humorist Mark Twain having supposedly had some adventures in The Dalles, Oregon, area.
All of these are mis-rememberings of the formerly famous, very eccentric industrialist George Francis Train.
(See “I Learned Chinook Jargon in 15 Minutes” and “Psycho, the Demented, Gives a Speech in Chenook (Partly)“).
Mark Twain was never in the area, as far as I’ve found. But I see how the local lore developed.
The two men’s names resembled each other, the guys looked somewhat similar, and both acted in equally brash ways, though. Plus, Twain had strong opinions about Train — as did many people.
And Twain remained famous in 1917, while Train had declined into poor mental health and left the public eye years previous.
George Francis Train in ME (image credit: Vintage Maine Images)
Mark Twain @ BAM (image credit: Fine Art America)
Here are the traces of the “Mark Twain at The Dalles” legend:
Page 226:
A. No, to the best of my recollection it is-what I meant opposite,
was down along here. There was a channel, if I remember correctly-
I haven’t paid particular attention to that for 35 or 40 years; I
don’t remember just exactly how those channels run there-but
during the higher water there was a channel parallel with the river
that the fish ran in in great numbers at certain times. I remember
that Mark Twain one time went up there for amusement and caught
over a hundred in a short time — just for amusement.
Page 231:
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ETC.
231
A. That is one of the places, Judge, that was commonly visited
for to see the fish.
Q. Is that the place that was made notorious up there, and gen-
erally known by the fact that Mark Twain went up there to fish
and fell in?
A. That is the point, I think, Judge.
Page 391:
Q. Do you know the place up there that was notorious as the
place where Mark Twain fell in the water?
A. No.
Q. You don’t know whether that was the fishery in front of your
place, or not?
A. That is the general fishery where Mark Twain stories spring
from, I guess.
Q. That is notorious up there as the place where that story sprang
from?
Digitized
392
A. Yes, where Sinnott’s stories and such things as that; as one
of the many lies that were told about that.
Q. Well, anyway, it is a notorious point there on that account.
SEUFERT BROTHERS COMPANY VS.
Page 593:
Q. Mr. McFarland identified that place as a place that was noto-
rious on the river there as the place where Mark Twain fell in, or
something of that kind. Do you know where that place is on the
river?
A. I do.
