Distinctly Montana Magazine

59 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m by BRENDA WAHLER F AMED FOR HIS HU- MOROUS FICTION, MARK TWAIN WIELD- ED A POISON PEN WHEN WRITING ABOUT RE- AL-LIFE CHARACTERS. In 1907, he unleashed one of his sharpest barbs at Sena- tor William Andrews Clark, one of Montana's "copper kings": "[W]hile I am will- ing to waive moral rank and associate with the moderate- ly criminal among the Sena- tors," said Twain, "I have to draw the line at Clark of Montana. He is said to have bought legislatures and judges as other men buy food and raiment. By his example he has so excused and so sweetened corruption that in Montana it no longer has an offen- sive smell. His history is known to everybody; he is as rotten a hu- man being as can be found anywhere under the flag; he is a shame to the American nation, and no one has helped to send him to the Senate who did not know that his proper place was the penitentia- ry, with a chain and ball on his legs." Twain's observation came after a private dinner at the exclusive Union League Club in New York City. The members honored Clark for loaning them thir- ty paintings, worth over $1 million, for an exhibition. Twain attended this "drea- ry and fatiguing" event with a companion whom he described as "a particular friend of mine whom I will call Jones for this day and train only." He emphatical- ly declared, "I cannot help being vain of myself for giv- ing such a large proof of my friendship for Jones as is involved in my accepting an invitation to break bread with such a person as Clark of Montana." What triggered Twain's vitriol, and who was "Jones"? Untan- gling this web reveals that it was made from Montana copper. Twain criticized public figures from Andrew Carnegie to The- odore Roosevelt, so Twain easily sighted in on the duplicitous Clark. But in one sense, Twain's salvo was the final shot in the infamous Clark-Daly feud that dated back to 1888. "Jones" is revealed in Twain's calendar. On January 26, 1907, he dined with publisher William Evarts Benjamin. It just so hap- pened that Benjamin's father-in-law was one of Twain's closest friends: Henry H. Rogers. The close friendship of Henry Rogers and Mark Twain, (standing in back wearing butcher's aprons), was solidified by their love of the subtle joke, as seen in this expensive steak dinner served on shipping crates. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS BUTTE-SILVER BOW PUBLIC ARCHIVES Butte, Montana 1882

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