Why did Mark Twain consider riverboat piloting his most congenial job?

Mark Twain considered his time as a Mississippi River steamboat pilot to be the most congenial job he ever held for several reasons. Primarily, he valued the absolute freedom and self-sufficiency the role provided, famously describing a pilot as the only "unfettered and entirely independent human being that lived in the earth."12

Beyond this independence, the profession offered several professional and social rewards:

• Status and Compensation: Pilots earned good wages and commanded universal respect.2
• Professional Community: Twain cherished his acceptance into the elite group of pilots and valued the meritocracy maintained by the Western Boatman’s Benevolent Association.2
• Personal Growth: The rigorous training required to master the river provided him with a sense of discipline and direction that he had previously lacked in his "directionless knockabout life."2

Ultimately, the experience was the fulfillment of a childhood dream and provided the inspiration for his famous pen name, which is a nautical term meaning water that is two fathoms deep.312