Life on the Mississippi

Twain introduces Uncle Remus, an acquaintance of his who is a writer. Uncle Remus is shy. It is revealed that he is a white man with red hair, which befuddles everyone due to his name and association with the Uncle Remus character. Twain also mentions his history with Mr. Cable. He and Mr. Cable collaborated on a book and chose a unique name for the project, but had to later change the name due to a libel suit that was brought against them over the title of the book. 

In this chapter, Twain has the fortune of running into Mr. Bixby. Twain is elated to find that Mr. Bixby has not changed. Twain relates a curious tale about a man who receives messages from the spirit world, though Twain himself is skeptical of the claim. 

Twain muses on the lives of various pilots he met throughout his training and time on the Mississippi. He relates how many have become farmers now. Some, like Mr. Bixby, have endured explosions and injury, and are now heroes. Twain brings up a pilot named Ritchie, now disabled, as an example. He then ends the chapter with a tale about a couple who married because they thought they would inherit a fortune. In the end, they did not receive the money they thought they would. 

This comical chapter relates how Twain supposedly came by his pen name. There was a man named Captain Sellers that Twain knew. The captain wrote supercilious articles under the name Mark Twain. Twain mocked Captain Sellers in an article and used the same name—Mark Twain—for a pen name. Twain explains how Captain Sellers hated him because of the slight, and never wrote again. After that, Twain began using the pen name Mark Twain. 

Twain recalls different instances of travel, including traveling to St. Louis while a myriad of thunderstorms took place, and traveling the Mississippi with Mr. Bixby. Later in the chapter, he meets an old acquaintance of his on the street and learns that the man is acting in Julius Caesar. Twain decides to see the play but is unable to find his friend. Later, his friend tells him that he was merely playing a Roman soldier with no lines in the play.

Twain relates the personal story of a former prison mate who sent him a letter explaining how he had since found God with the help of a man named Mr. Brown. The man thanks Twain’s friend, Williams, for the new life. Twain includes the letter in the chapter, and also remarks on how shocked he was to later learn that the letter was a fake. He arrives in St. Louis with the intent of seeing Mr. Brown, but is disappointed to find that he cannot see him

Twain revisits his childhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. While walking around, he meets an older man and asks the man about several of his old acquaintances. He also asks the man news of himself, and finds that he was always thought of as a fool by others. Twain is happy that he told the man his name was Smith, as to avoid embarrassment.

Twain attends Sunday School. While there, he reminisces about two of his childhood friends who died young.

Twain relates a comical tale about his childhood involving a carpenter. The carpenter told Twain about how he murdered many men around the world. The one thing these men all had in common was that their name was Lynch. This confession scares Twain, and he in turn tries to warn a man named Lynch, who later rebuffs the carpenter for telling such a tall tale to Twain.

Twain recalls when he once gave a match to a bum while a child. The bum later accidentally set himself on fire with his pipe while sleeping. Twain was afraid that he was responsible for the bum’s death. He also thought that he had confessed to it in his sleep, and that his brother, Harry, had heard this confession. Later, Twain learned that his brother had heard something but thought the culprit was a boy named Ben.

While traveling from St. Louis, Twain is struck again by how different many of the cities look since the last time he saw them while traveling the Mississippi. Cities include Quincy, Marion City, and Canton.

The narrative continues with Twain’s impressions of cities and their changes, including their growth and prosperity. This takes place as Twain travels the Upper Mississippi and visits Minnesota.

Twain describes different stories concerning “Indians” that he picked up while traveling the Mississippi. They are told by a passenger from La Crosse whom Twain doubts but listens to nevertheless.

The narrative eventually ends with Twain in St. Paul and Minneapolis. Like other cities, these two make a mark on Twain due to how organized they are. After musing about both locales, he returns to Chicago, then back to New York.