I think “Stiggers” appears first in the ALTA columns in 1864. Most of the newspapers are online at California Digital Newspaper Collections. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/ By 1865, he is referred to (by Evans writing as Fitz Smythe) as “Stiggers alias Fitz Smythe” — see the April 6, 1865 issue. These newspapers can be sorted by oldest issue first and that helps with the chronology. Barb On Wednesday, January 19, 2022, Sarah Elizabeth Fredericks < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Would anyone who has worked directly with issues of the San Francisco _Alta > California_ clarify the origins of "Armand Leonidas Stiggers" and "Fitz > Smythe," the two comic personas of Mark Twain's rival Albert S. Evans. > Namely, were these two separate characters, and if so, which came first? > > Sources across Mark Twain studies seem to disagree. > > In _Clemens of the Call_, Branch reports: "Evans became doubly vulnerable > when he invented the satiric character Armand Leonidas Stiggers early in > 1864. Stiggers, who was presented as Fitz Smythe's assistant on the Alta, > was part dandy and part bohemian" (p. 82). > > However, in vol. 2 of _Early Tales and Sketches_, Branch and Hirst explain: > "To this end [Evans] had invented, in 1864, the character Armand Leonidas > Stiggers--a dandified bohemian who loafed about the Alta office, where he > was not wanted. Stiggers (whose surname Evans later changed to "Fitz > Smythe") was portrayed as a bungler..." (p. 336). > > Subsequent secondary criticism seems to alternate between these two > explanations, with some even claiming that it was Twain who combined the > two characters. > > Is this simply a case of an error in _Clemens of the Call_ being > perpetuated in later scholarship? > > Thanks in advance! > > Sarah > > Sarah Fredericks > [log in to unmask] >