Jackass Hill

The Mark Twain Cabin

The Mark Twain Cabin is located at the top of the hill. Actually, the cabin belonged to the Gillis brothers, William and James, and a mining partner by the name of Dick Stoker. A cat by the name of Tom Quartz may have also shared the cabin. Twain spent three months here, from December 4 of 1864 to March of 1865, as their guest, mining, visiting the neighboring towns, and sitting around the old fireplace swapping tales with the Gillis brothers, Stoker, and visiting neighbors. It was during this stay that Twain heard the story of the jumping frog while at a saloon in nearby Angels Camp. Making notes and sketches of the story in this cabin, he later wrote a short story about a jumping frog which brought him world-wide fame.

The present structure is a replica of the Gillis cabin which was destroyed by fire. It was supposedly rebuilt in 1922 under the supervision of Bill Gillis who led the builders to the original cabin site where they recovered portions of the foundation. He then described how the original cabin had looked and the replica was built. The old fieldstone fireplace is said to be the original one which once warmed the boys on those chilly winter evenings.