19. Samuel Clemens and the Mississippi
Much of American folklore came from the imagination of Samuel Clemens and two of his works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. His tales of drifting down the Mississippi River on a raft, hiding on river islands, playing in caves, and the characters encountered were vivid adaptions of his own experiences, and though written for adults became childhood favorites. Mark Twain was a former river pilot, taking his pen name for a measurement of the river’s depth, and did much to memorialize the river and its minions. Twain also introduced the United States to a contest which continues to be held annually in Calaveras County and elsewhere, at which frogs attempt to outdistance each other by jumping.
Twain became part of American folklore himself throughout his long and productive life, embellishing his achievements and reputation with lecture tours and readings of his books. His image of appearing dressed in white, with his bushy hair in disarray, was part of his fame. He affected the speech and accent of his native Missouri in public, though in private his speech was more formal and his accent unnoticeable to most. By the end of his life Twain was friends with both Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison (who filmed him, the only known film image of the writer), and Twain himself was awarded three patents for his own inventions. But it is as the creator of Tom Sawyer and his friends for which he is remembered, part of the folklore of the United States.