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Why did Samuel Clemens abandon his plan to travel to South America in 1857?
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Mark Twain
American humorist and novelist Mark Twain, c. 1907.
Samuel Clemens abandoned his plan to travel to South America in 1857 because he discovered a more immediate and compelling opportunity while traveling by steamboat to New Orleans. Upon encountering the accomplished riverboat captain Horace Bixby, Clemens was persuaded to pursue an apprenticeship to become a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River instead.1