Frogtown Airport Nolls Fly to Columbia, California
2. Runway 35

In 1865, Samuel l. Clemens (Mark Twain) penned "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," a tall tale of the life and happenings of the gold rush town, Angels Camp. The narrator details a story about a frog, Dan'l Webster, who could out jump any other frog, and a man, Jim Smiley, who was the "curiousest man about always betting on anything that turned up you ever see, if he could get anybody to bet on the other side; and if he couldn't he'd change sides." (1) Jim Smiley had bet forty dollars. Smiley was figuring that his frog could "out jump any frog in Calaveras County." (2) He met a stranger who filled Dan'l Webster with buckshot, therefore winning the frog jump and the forty dollars in gold. Figuring out what happened Smiley ran after the stranger but he never caught him. The story was published and delighted audiences worldwide but didn't appear to have much impact on Calaveras County until much later.

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