Hearking back to the discussion of whether Twain made certain quotations, I 
 am curious as to other folks' reaction to a couple of phrases Twain did 
use--but  only one time.
 
In Roughing It, Twain says he and John Kinney found the "Cache" of the  
Brigade Boys at their Lake Tahoe timber claim camp. He puts it in quotation  
marks. In a word check of over 300 Twain works, including his letters and his  
first book of dictation, he never used the word in print again.
In a letter from Aurora, Esmeralda mining district, to Orion, he says "But  
I have struck my tent in Esmeralda. . . .  I am a citizen here [Esmeralda}  
now, and I am satisfied. . . ." Then, in the same manner as "cache," he  
never again uses the phrase. A word check of "struck" reveals many uses,  but 
the phrase "struck my tent" or "struck his tent" never occurs after the  
1862 letter.. Neither phrase shows up again, although he does use "struck out"  
as in "shouldered our pans and shovels and struck out over the hills to try 
new  localities."
Contrary to the more common use  of "struck my tent," I think he means  he 
is no longer "a temporary camper" and has taken up being a resident. I find  
no use of the phrase that way (as compared to "breaking camp and 
departing", the  more common meaning) in 1800s newspapers. So, I am guessing Sam had 
heard the  phrases "struck my tent" and "cache" for the first time, and was 
trying it  on for size, and found they didn't fit his personal lexicon.
On the other hand, in the 
But I would like to hear from others, especially if you have a different  
thought.
Many thanks.
Bob Stewart