The Jumping Frog story probably isn't a good choice for a work Twain wished
he hadn't written.  My guess is that his complaint to his mother about being
complimented on "a villainous backwoods sketch" wasn't very sincere.  After
all, Twain wasn't a man to despise compliments, and he certainly didn't mind
the fame that the story brought him.  As for its being Ben Coon's story,
what
he heard in Angel's Camp was hardly more than the kernel of Twain's story,
as
a look at his earlier versions can well demonstrate. Twain's story depends
on
style, and he worked hard over a period of several months (years, if you
count the later revisions) to get it right.

If you think that Twain wanted to distance himself from the story, consider
the following:

1. After its initial publication as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" in
1865, Twain revised the story for use as the title piece in his first book,
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches (1867).

2. He revised it yet again, gave it a new title ("The Notorious Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County"), and republished it in Mark Twain's Sketches, New and
Old (1875)--along with a French version of the story and his own
"re-translation," all lumped together under the title "The 'Jumping Frog' in
English. Then in French. Then Clawed Back into a Civilized Language Once
More
by Patient, Unremunerated Toil" (though, of course, Twain in reality wasn't
one to let his toil go unremunerated).

3. In 1894 he took his writing bucket once again to the jumping frog well,
publishing "Private History of the 'Jumping Frog' Story" in the North
American Review.

Jim Leonard