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=