Thought you might be interested in this reference to Twain in connection to a Virginia City excavation. University of Nevada, Reno archaeologists working in historic Virginia City, Nev., have moved their latest excavation project from the Barbary Coast to the original site of Thomas Maguire's Opera House on D Street. The project is intended to shed light on life in the fabled town during the time when Mark Twain called the place home. Students working on excavation are part of a summer field school from the Department of Anthropology and the Extended Studies office at the University. The project is made possible through volunteer and student labor, although a National Park Service grant supports a few professional archaeologists to manage the excavation. "Maguire opened one of the West's most important theaters in July 1863," said state historic preservation officer Ron James, whose agency is providing the federal funds to support the project. "Mark Twain rushed back from San Francisco to Virginia City so he could attend the premiere act, which featured the best actors of the day including a brother of the future presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth." Short URL: http://snipr.com/3d99w http://www.unr.edu/nevadanews/templates/details.aspx? articleid=4476&zoneid=40 -- Arianne Laidlaw