Sharon--

Thanks for those links.  The one on flatboats included a still from a 1924 film about Lincoln.  I didn't know about this film prior to this reference, so thanks.  I'd be interested to compare how Lincoln is presented in this film to how he's shown in _Birth of a Nation_.  

Both of these links include images of George Bingham paintings.  He was a Missouri artist who did quite a number of paintings of Mississippi River life, especially a series of "Jolly Flatboatmen" paintings between 1848 and 1857, for those who are interested.  

Best, 

--LH
________________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Sharon McCoy <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Connection between Twain and Lincoln

Reagan was a football announcer?  That one passed me by.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind, though is that flatboats and rafts=
 were different things.  Now that I've read the biographical sketches, it i=
s clear that Lincoln's trips were on flatboats, or what Huck calls "trading=
 scows," (Chs. 16 and 19), while Huck and Jim clearly have a piece of raft.=
 =20

A website called "The Steamboat Times" does a good job, so far as I underst=
and the history of river traffic, of explaining the difference, using sourc=
es and drawings from the era for each, along with photographs (some of whic=
h are pretty harrowing!) -- including the stories of Lincoln's trips.  The =
entry on flatboats actually cites Huck's reference to a "trading scow" in L=
ife on the Mississippi (Ch. 3).  I'd forgotten it was included there. =20

Anyway, here are two links that are short enough (I hope) to avoid the equa=
l signs that I know will plague the rest of this post.

http://steamboattimes.com/flatboats.html
http://steamboattimes.com/rafts.html  =20

Fascinating stuff.

Cheers,
Sharon
________________________________________
From: Mark Twain Forum [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Lawrence Howe [LHowe=
@ROOSEVELT.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Connection between Twain and Lincoln

Hal--=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
You may be right that "pretty much everyone knew about Lincoln's raft trips=
=3D
," but all of the examples you list are presidents whose campaigns were in =
=3D
the era of modern media saturation.  Campaigns in the nineteenth century do=
=3D
n't really compare with those we experience now.  And even given that, I'm =
=3D
not sure "everyone knows" that Reagan was a football announcer; it's true t=
=3D
hat he was, but I suspect that people are more familiar with his early care=
=3D
er as a radio broadcaster recreating Cubs games from ticker-tape accounts. =
=3D
=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
Is there evidence of how common the knowledge of AL's raft trips was?  =3D0=
A=3D
=3D0A=3D
Best, =3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
--LH =3D0A=3D
Larry Howe=3D0A=3D
Professor of English=3D0A=3D
Chair, Department of Literature and Languages=3D0A=3D
Roosevelt University=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies, Syddansk Universitet--Od=
=3D
ense, 2014-15=3D0A=3D
________________________________________=3D0A=3D
From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Hal Bush <bushhk@SLU=
=3D
.EDU>=3D0A=3D
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 7:31 AM=3D0A=3D
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Connection between Twain and Lincoln=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
I think I should clarify something about this topic.  Pretty much everyone=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
knew about Lincoln's raft trips -- as they knew about him as a "rail=3D0A=
=3D
splitter," or they knew that he grew up in southern Indiana, or lost his=3D=
0A=3D
mother Nancy Hanks, etc.  Just like everyone reading this knows that Reagan=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
was a football announcer on the radio and went to Hollywood to star in=3D0A=
=3D
movies; or that Clinton grew up in rural Ark. with a single Mom, that he=3D=
0A=3D
"did not inhale," and that he shook the hand of Jack Kennedy; or that=3D0A=
=3D
Barack Obama had a white mother and and a Kenyan father, spent time in=3D0A=
=3D
Indonesia and Hawaii, and that he was a grassroots organizer in Chicago;=3D=
0A=3D
etc., etc.  It was not necessary to read a book as a source for any of=3D0A=
=3D
these details; they are just sort of in the water of presidential=3D0A=3D
campaigns.=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
Twain would NOT have needed to "read a book" to know that AL took raft=3D0A=
=3D
trips down the Mighty Mississippi.=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 10:40 PM, Arianne <[log in to unmask]> wrote:=3D0A=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> Thanks Barbara.  I really appreciate your knowledgeable tips!=3D0A=3D
> Chances are Mark Twain read Howell's work, for sure, and Lincoln's raft=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> trip might have been mentionied in it, too.  I'll check your archive link=
=3D
.=3D0A=3D
> THANKS=3D0A=3D
> Arianne Laidlaw=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 3:13 PM, Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> wrote:=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
> > I don't think the fact that William Dean Howells wrote an 1860 campaign=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> > biography _Life of Abraham Lincoln_ should be overlooked.  This book is=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> not=3D0A=3D
> > listed in Gribben's _Mark Twain's Library: A Reconstruction_.  However=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> in a=3D0A=3D
> > letter dated 5 Aug. 1876, Howells reminded Clemens: "You know I wrote t=
=3D
he=3D0A=3D
> > Life of Lincoln which elected him."  The text of Howell's book is also=
=3D
=3D0A=3D
> > available online at archive.org.=3D0A=3D
> >=3D0A=3D
> > Barb=3D0A=3D
> >=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
> --=3D0A=3D
> Arianne Laidlaw A '58=3D0A=3D
>=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
=3D0A=3D
--=3D0A=3D
Prof. Harold K. Bush=3D0A=3D
Professor of English=3D0A=3D
3800 Lindell=3D0A=3D
Saint Louis University=3D0A=3D
St. Louis, MO  63108=3D0A=3D
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)=3D0A=3D
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>=3D0A=3D=