Year 1863 - 1864

My name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. It is a good name. However, I am a fresh new journalist and need a "nom de guerre." While working on the steamboat sometime ago, a gentleman used to jot down brief paragraphs of plain practical information about the river, and he would sign them 'Mark Twain,' and he would give them to the 'New Orleans Picayune." I confiscated the ancient mariner's discarded one, and have done my best to maintain what is was in his hands, a sign and symbol and warrant that whatever is found in its company may be gambled on as being the petrified truth. 


I have given you reasons for my new adopted pen name, but from now on, if I choose to use my name I will refer to myself as Mark. 


Now, currently I am working as a reporter for the San Francisco Morning Call and the Sacramento Union. The job provides the experience I need to become a greater writer.