A Common Destiny

A Common Destiny

Blacks and American Society

  • Author: Williams, Robin M., Jr.; Jaynes, Gerald David
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 9780309039987
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780309555371
  • Place of publication:  Spain
  • Year of digital publication: 2020
  • Month: December
  • Language: English
A memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War. The book begins with a brief history of the river as reported by Europeans and Americans, beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. It continues with anecdotes of Twain's training as a steamboat pilot, as the 'cub' (apprentice) of an experienced pilot, Horace E. Bixby.