We 
have now completed
our review of the Hannibal, MO, area and the life and times of both
Mark Twain and Molly Brown. We stayed in a campground which also
runs tours of the famous cave where Mark Twain's legendary
character, Tom Sawyer explored with his girlfriend Becky
Thatcher. Back when Samuel Clemens was a child living in Hannibal
in the mid 1800s, Hannibal was a quiet river town. It is much the
same today. With the exception of the tourists, there doesn't
seem to be much in the way of a livelihood here. Sam Clemens was
for the most part, a carefree child playing in a quiet river town
several decades before the Civil War. This carefree life style
came to an end in 1847 when his father died of pneumonia.
At the
age of 12, Sam was forced to quit school and become a
"printer's devil" for Joseph Ament. He was taken on as
an apprentice in exchange for the promise of two new suits a
year, a pallet to sleep on, food and the opportunity to learn the
printer's trade. Thus began Sam's involvement with world of the
published word. Soon he moved on to become a river boat pilot.
His river boat experiences would lead him to select his now world
famous pen name, "Mark Twain". It is believed to have
come from a call on the boat by the seaman who would measure the
depth of the river and then call it out to the pilot. Mark twain
would be two fathoms or 12 feet. As Mark Twain, Sam would travel
the old west, the U.S. and finally the world, writing and
learning the materials that would prompt the great books he would
write. Yet it was his childhood experiences that would bring him
most of his fame. The memorable characters of Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn and the life on the Mississippi. Historians have
easily traced the fictitious characters of his stories to the
real people in his life and the incidents that he experienced
which created the events in his stories. 
There was a pretty
little girl with blond braids, Laura Hawkins that lived in a
house across from Sam Clemens. He spent many hours with her as he
explored and played in Hannibal. Many years later he put Laura
Hawkins in his book about Tom Sawyer, calling her Becky Thatcher.
The Mississippi still rolls by and kids still toss lines from old
fishing poles. The center block of the town is marked off as a
historic district. There are about six buildings which had an
impact on his life. There is Sam Clemens' childhood home, with
Laura Hawkins' house right across the street. These are now all
offered as museums with explanations as to the part 
they,
and the people who lived in them, played in his life and in his
stories of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. It's a fun place to
visit but can be greatly enhanced by reading the two volumes
relating to his life here. There is a museum in the middle of
town which offers a look into mid 19th century Mississippi life,
complete with a pilot's wheel and whistle mounted on an imitation
riverboat pilot house. There are points of interest all around
the city. Just east of town, high on a bluff overlooking the
mighty Mississippi, stands an outcrop of rock known as
"lover's leap". Legend has it that many years ago an
Indian brave from a tribe across the river fell in love with a
beautiful
maiden from the other side. When tribal elders
condemned the relationship the lovers leaped off the ledge,
giving rise to its name. The view of Hannibal from here is
spectacular as the lazy Mississippi, with its paddlewheel river
boats plying their trade, rolls on by. From here the area does
seem timeless. Just a little further east is a cave, reported to
be the one Mark Twain explored with his girlfriend and one of the
central places in his story of Tom Sawyer. It is actually in a
campground which is quite nice. The cave is open for tours. Mark
Twain was born in 1835 during the time when Halley's Comet was
overhead. He died April 21, 1910 at the return of the Comet. We
finished up the stay with an evening of campfire beside a brook,
as I rolled a couple of Adirondacks
mountain meatloaves into the fire, and
broke out the old harmonica. What a way to end the week.
*** THE END ***
