Dear Ellen:
We have some photos at the Mark Twain Papers of the Gillis cabin before
the reconstruction. I cannot date them precisely, but they were clearly
taken long after Clemens stayed there, possibly just after the turn of
the century. The photos show the cabin swaying every which way and
looking close to collapse, but they may give some idea of the cabin as it
had been. By way of comparison, we also have pictures taken after the
reconstruction, one of them showing Gillis as a very old man standing in
front.

Yours sincerely,

Victor Fischer
Mark Twain Project

On Tue, 20 Jan 1998, Ellen Oster wrote:

> Does anyone have any infor about the Gillis cabin at Jackass Hill and
> what it looked like originally? From what I've read, the cabin burned in
> 1922 and the replica erected at the spot looks nothing like the
> original.
>
> Were any sketches made, or any photos ever recovered?
> Thanks,
>
> Ellen
>