Distinctly Montana Magazine

d i s t i n c t ly m o n ta n a • w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 42 Note: Roughing It was Twain's first book. Twenty plus years later he took a world tour to raise money and came to Montana again. hErE IS Pat wIllIaMS' (u.S. houSE of rEPrESEntatIvES 1979-97) aCCount: In 1895 at the age of 59 Mark Twain began a world tour, in which he performed in more Montana cities (five) than in any other state. [In August] the tour train crossed North Dakota and into Montana with his first performance in Great Falls. Mr. Paris Gibson, the founder of the city, escorted the family to the Giant Springs and the nearby Great Falls of the Missouri. The Rainbow Dam, which would inundate the falls, was still two years from con- struction. That evening Twain lectured at the Opera House, a building which stood for the next 60 years. Tired from the long day's trip to Giant Springs and his lingering leg infec- tion, Twain was disappointed in his evening's performance. The next morning the family boarded the train to Butte where he performed that evening at Maguire's Grand Op- era House. Twain entertained for an hour and a half with stories about Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, the jumping frog, and his own efforts to steal a watermelon. The next day's newspaper reported, according to Butte historian George Everett, "It is doubtful if Maguire's Opera House ever contained a more delighted audience." [After it burned down in 1912, the Opera House was replaced by the Leggat Hotel in 1914. ~ Ed. note] Twain, too, was pleased, writing in his journal how he enjoyed the Butte audience, "intellectual and dressed in perfect taste — London, Pari- sian, New York audience — out in the mines." Then on to the elegant Silver Bow Club for champagne and stories. Twain, it was noted, ordered scotch. The tour's next stop was Ana- conda where Twain rested overnight at Marcus Daly's sumptu- ous Montana Hotel and the following day performed at the then nearby Evans Opera House. The tour reached Helena where Twain was the guest of honor at the Montana Club. The historian Robert Cooper relates that a few people arrived from Twain's former stomping grounds Virginia City, Nevada. A toast to Twain was interrupted by one of those Nevada guests who shouted, "Before we go further, I want to say to you, Sam Clemens, that you did me a dirty trick…and I've come here to have a settlement with you." A long awkward silence followed and Twain finally responded, "Let's see. That was before I reformed, wasn't it?" The drinks and laughter resumed. Only eight years later the elegant club was destroyed by fire and a new Montana Club was built on the site. Twain's next stop was Mis- soula where he rested at the original Florence Hotel and lectured at Missoula's Bennett Opera House. The next day Twain visited Fort Missoula and its 25th U.S. Colored Regiment. Twain, who all his life had de- plored the bigotry and racism he found throughout America, happily noted that "black of- ficers were saluted just like any other." On Aug. 6, 1895, Twain left Montana. The tour would take him to the Fiji Islands, Aus- tralia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, and South America. His journey lasted one year and one day. Twain rides in a stagecoach like the one when he saw 'cayotes' in Montana.

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