In the late 1860’s, Mark Twain set out on a primitive road trip, taking wagon and train, out into the west. Part of his travels led him to Salt Lake City. During his stay, Twain found occasion to document his experiences with the Mormons. His account contains a very humorous meeting with the prophet Brigham Young. This is the basis for our “Historical Story”.
By examining the intersection of two notable historical men, we found fertile ground for an examination of character and context. This manifested itself in the opportunities afforded us as we imagined Mark Twain finding himself in an entirely new context. Simultaneously, Brigham Young was introduced to a very interesting ‘character’, perhaps one of the most interesting men of the times. We created a fictional third character to be intermediary of the two men. Much of the dialogue was inspired by Mark Twain’s own account of the story. Though we have an account from one side of the record, it is obvious that we could not take Twain’s account as factual. Memories and personal accounts are fluid and often too subjective to be considered Truth. This concept was excellently illustrated in Ethan Canin’s short piece “Vivian, Fort Barnwell”.
With this in mind, we took quite a few liberties in fabricating what the conversation might have sounded like instead of what it did sound like. While both men are often regarded as some of the greater minds of the 19th century, we felt it justified to give them some character flaws, especially issues with self esteem and temper. This allowed the conversation to elevate to a level more inappropriate than what a prophet of the Lord probably would have allowed. In order to protect our salvation, we made sure most of the aggression came from Mark Twain, leaving Brigham Young with more intellectual and passive come-backs. Sure, it is fun to have famous historical figures fight each other in our own personal arena, but Fritz brings up the most important point: It is a shame that these men did not fully appreciate the other’s genius simply because their expertise was in different areas.
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