Why did Samuel Clemens travel to the Nevada Territory during the Civil War?

Samuel Clemens traveled to the Nevada Territory during the American Civil War primarily to accompany his brother, Orion Clemens. Orion had been appointed as the territorial secretary of Nevada as a reward for his involvement in Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign and Republican Party politics.1

For Samuel Clemens, the move also served as a departure from the instability of the war years. River traffic had been severely curtailed, and he feared being impressed as a Union gunboat pilot. After a brief, unsuccessful stint with the prosecessionist Marion Rangers, he decided to leave the conflict behind, much like his fictional character Huckleberry Finn who sought to escape to the territories. Upon arriving in Carson City, Clemens initially struggled to find steady work before eventually finding success as a reporter for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.1