How did the American Civil War end Samuel Clemens’s career as a riverboat pilot?

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Mark Twain American humorist and novelist Mark Twain, c. 1907.

The American Civil War brought an end to Samuel Clemens’s career as a riverboat pilot because the conflict severely curtailed river traffic. Furthermore, Clemens feared that he might be impressed into service as a pilot for a Union gunboat. Consequently, he ceased his work on the river just two years after obtaining his pilot's license. Following this, he briefly joined a pro-Confederate militia before eventually traveling to the Nevada Territory to pursue other opportunities.1