Jackass Hill
The Mark Twain Cabin
The Mark Twain Cabin is located at the top of the hill. Actually, the cabin belonged to the Gillis brothers,
William and James, and a mining partner by the name of Dick Stoker. A cat by the name of Tom Quartz
may have also shared the cabin. Twain spent three months here, from December 4 of 1864 to March of
1865, as their guest, mining, visiting the neighboring towns, and sitting around the old fireplace swapping
tales with the Gillis brothers, Stoker, and visiting neighbors. It was during this stay that Twain heard the
story of the jumping frog while at a saloon in nearby Angels Camp. Making notes and sketches of the
story in this cabin, he later wrote a short story about a jumping frog which brought him world-wide fame.
The present structure is a replica of the Gillis
cabin which was
destroyed by fire. It was supposedly rebuilt in
1922 under the
supervision of Bill Gillis who led the builders to
the original cabin
site where they recovered portions of the
foundation. He then described
how the original cabin had looked and the replica
was built. The old
fieldstone fireplace is said to be the original
one which once warmed
the boys on those chilly winter evenings.
Return to Jackass Hill |