The Jumping Frog Festival of Calaveras County

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The second jump of my FFT trip was to the Jumping Frog Jubilee of Calaveras County http://www.frogtown.org/.  In 1865 Samuel Clemens was in a bar where he heard a tale from a bartender named Simon Wheeler who related the story  of a gambler  who would bet on anything, including how far a frog could jump.  Intrigued by the story, Clemens, soon to be known as Mark Twain, wrote his first story which was published under the title, “Jim Simely and His Jumping Frog” in The Saturday Press. TheCelebratedJumpingFrog Instantly popular, the tale was reprinted many times and in 1867 was one of several short stories published in his first book The Celebrated Jumping Frog.  (only 1,000 copies were printed and we were fortunate to see one of them in the UC Berkeley archives. Not only did the story propel Clemens to fame as a writer, but it also made the Calaveras County Fair legendary. In 1928 the “modern frog jump” was first held and since then people travel from all over the world to see the competition; however the festival remains a community affair.  My husband and I were struck by the close neighborhood feeling of friendliness, fun, and laughter.  We enjoyed watching the Frog Jump (what the locals call it), visiting the exhibits, and eating corn dogs. I even joined the little kids for the Junior Frog Jump, my frog, nicknamed Edison, jumped 11 feet 9 inches, a record for the day! Click on these links to see the video of my  frog jumping: Frog Jump 1 and Frog Jump 2.

While I enjoyed the festival, I have to add that I really hope my frog leaps away! It must be a terrifying experience for a frog! I think Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn would have broken them out of the so called “Frog Spa”  and let them go in the nearby pond! Below is one of the frogs from the Frog Spa that is housed beneath the Jumping Frog staging area. Hopefully, the frogs are released back into a wild pond after the festival.

Jumping Frog from the Festival enjoying the Frog Spa

The Mark Twain Cabin

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Mark Twain Cabin Marker

Mark Twain Cabin Marker

On our way to the Jumping Frog Festival, we stopped along the Bret Harte trail to see the reconstructed Mark Twain Cabin.  On December 4, 1864 Clemens arrived in at Jackass Hill in Tulomne County, Ca. The hill was called “Jackass” because the miners’ mules would be gathered together.  Once a famous, busy camp, by the time he arrived it had lost its original glamour. A log cabin built by Dick Stoker in the 1850s became his home.  While in a saloon at the nearby town of Angels Camp, Twain heard and took the notes that became the Jumping Frog story that he wrote when he returned to the cabin. The original Stoker cabin was burned in the 1890s and in 1922 a commemorative cabin was erected. In 2002 this second cabin was also restored. Information from http://www.noehill.com/tuolumne/poi_mark_twain_cabin.asp and Critical Companion to Mark Twain: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work By R. Kent Rasmussen

Mark Twain Cabin

Mark Twain Cabin

What amazes me about all of this is the effort and expense local people will go to anywhere in America to be able to save any place where Mark Twain took a breath or walked.  He is truly an American icon. Here in California, we especially love the short stories collected in the Celebrated Jumping Frog and those in Roughing It.

The Mark Twain Papers

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cattale01

Manuscript at MTP, Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley

My husband and I had an amazing trip to the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.  After a very strict security check (you are only allowed to bring a pad of paper and pencil into the Mark Twain Papers, aka MTP) we took the elevator (stairs not allowed) up to the rooms storing the precious works and correspondence of the great American author and humorist.

“The Mark Twain Papers contain the private papers of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) that he himself segregated and made available to his official biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine…As a result of intensive, ongoing editorial work since the mid 1960s, and with the cooperation of hundreds of institutions and individuals around the world, a working archive of photocopies and transcriptions has also been assembled—chiefly of letters by Clemens, his wife, and three daughters, but also letters to them, all the major literary manuscripts (published and unpublished) that are known to survive, books from his personal library, photographs, drawings, and so forth” (http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/about.html).

We were warmly welcomed by Neda Salem, MTP Research Assistant. She was so helpful and brought out first editions of “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, as well as the first printing of “The Californian’s Tale” in the Harper’s Monthly March 1902 issue.  I was particularly interested in these works because my students have or will be studying them. In addition, I was allowed to examine “A Cat Tale” [manuscript, 1880].

“This manuscript, which plays on the word ‘cat’ and includes the author’s illustrations, was based on the bedtime stories that Clemens improvised for his daughters. It was not published until 1959, when it was included in Concerning Cats: Two Tales by Mark Twain (San Francisco: The Book Club of California)(http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/Exhibits/mtatplay/catsbilliards/cattale.html).

One of the most marvelous experiences I’ve ever had was to see the actual writing process of this prolific author! How amazing to see his creativity intertwined with the relationship with his daughters, Suzy and Clara.

In addition to providing me with the opportunity to see all of the above works, Ms. Salem showed us archives of Harper’s Monthly stretching back a  hundred years, donated editions of special editions and a large collection of books related to the study of Mark Twain. Since I don’t live near Berkeley, I will either be visiting the local library or ordering a large list of books! Ms. Salem also gave me a bag full of handouts with nonfiction articles about Mark Twain, enough for an entire class, which will help me in planning and implementing my Mark Twain unit next year. Thank you so much Ms. Salem!

The six editors at the Mark Twain Papers have also compiled and edited many publications which can be found here http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/publications.html and ordered directly from the University. One of the audio editions, Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1, my husband and I enjoyed as we traveled from Huntington Beach to Berkeley and then to Sonora and back home.  I am convinced this is the best way to begin understanding Twain, and after listening I wanted to return to the Bancroft Library to examine the many letters, especially those about his experiences in California.  Fortunately, these have been published in Mark Twain’s Letters, Volume 1: 1853-1866 and I will be able to purchase the book…still, it’s not quite the same as seeing them in person.

Mark Twain “Known to Everyone – Liked By All”

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frog
I am so excited I feel like a jumping frog! Thanks to a generous grant from the Fund for Teachers  http://www.fundforteachers.org/ I will be embarking on the first leg of my Mark Twain Tour this Thursday!  My husband, Grant, and I will travel as far as San Jose, Ca, stay the night and then to Berkeley, CA to see the Mark Twain Papers http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/ at the Bancroft Library at the University of California. From there we will travel to the Calaveras County Fair to see the Jumping Frog Contest http://www.frogtown.org/ and then to the Sierra Nevada Mountains where Mark Twain wrote his first short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

He ketched a frog one day and took him home and said he cal’lated to educate him; and so he never done nothing for three months bu t set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet he did learn him, too. He’d give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you’d see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut–see him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat…. Smiley said all a frog wanted was education, and he could do most anything–and I believe him.
Read more at http://quotes.dictionary.com/search/the+celebrated+jumping+frog+of+calaveras+county?page=1#EMYkMU5HBJ4BIKx5.99