Without question, Mark Twain took full credit for creation of the Petrified 
 Man tale.
( http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1523/  )
It was written, he says, when he was reporting for the Territorial  
Enterprise, presumably (and this is the heart of my quandary) having arrived in  
Virginia City and assumed the post.
 
Two conflicting events occurred on Thursday, October 9, 1862.
 
First: the Sacramento Daily Union printed an article titled "A Petrified  
Man," quoting the Territorial Enterprise as the source, and telling briefly 
of  the discovery of the petrified man, and the fact that "Judge S--" would 
not let  the people blast him loose for burial. The Union was a morning 
paper, the  Enterprise article had to have appeared no later than the Oct. 8 
issue to reach  Sacramento the afternoon of the 8th, for inclusion in the next 
morning's paper.  (Online at cdnc.ucr.edu/ Sacramento Daily Union, 9 October 
1862, page 2,  col. 5, "A Petrified Man."
 
Second: In the Mark Twain Letters at the Twain Project in The Bancroft,  
there is a letter (MS ViU, UCCL 00059 ) datelined Aurora, October 9, written 
to  Billy Clagett and signed "Sam L.C." The envelope is damaged, and no date 
of  cancellation is extant. There is no mention in it of the petrified man, 
although  Billy lived in the Humboldt district, where "Judge S--" held court.
 
To add to the confusion: It is highly possible Clemens left Aurora for  
Carson and Virginia cities with Frank Fuller, who he first met in Aurora and  
about whose travel there is some question of timing. But it was in Aurora  
that Fuller met Sam Clemens in late September. He had left by September 27,  
because in Aurora Col. Saml Youngs received a letter from Fuller  on 
September 27, and mailed a response the next day.
 
 
I did not find a discussion of this conflict of dates and  locations in the 
Archives of the Forum. Has anyone done any  exploration of this time frame 
in Sam Clemens' life? 
 
Bob Stewart
Carson City NV