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In 1863, a young journalist named Samuel Langhorne Clemens, traveling from San Francisco, CA to Virginia City, NV spent the night at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, Calaveras County, California. Here, he heard the story of Daniel Webster, a famous frog who jumped higher and further than any other frog around.
His owner, local gambler Jim Smiley never got tired of placing bets on his celebrated jumping frog. One day, a stranger took the bet. But when Jim wasn't looking, the stranger poured quail shot into Daniel Webster's mouth making it impossible for him to jump at all. The stranger won the $40 bet and escaped before Jim realized the con.
The story was first published in 1865 in New York's Saturday Press and the young journalist used the pen name Mark Twain. It not only laid the foundation for his fame, it also put the tiny mining town Angels Camp on the world's map. |
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