Mark Twain's ramblings took him all over the American West during the 1860's. He prospected for gold and silver, speculated on timber and mining stocks, sailed to Hawaii, and worked for a succession of small newspapers. In Roughing It, his fictionalized account of these years, tall tales abound, as do sketches of the unforgettable characters he encountered: desperados, vigilantes, newspapermen, Mormons, and prospectors.