New book by local author recounts Twain's experiences in the Falls, WNY

Mar. 22—When famed author, writer, newspaperman and satirist Mark Twain enjoyed his first "Day at Niagara" in 1869, he encountered signs of frustration just about every place he visited.

As Twain himself noted, there were signs in the Falls advising him to bolt his door and tie up his dog and others warning him against scraping matches on the wall of his hotel and to turn the gas off when he retired for the evening.

"I always had a high regard for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but now they do not really seem to amount to much alongside the signers of Niagara Falls," Twain wrote in "A Day at Niagara," a piece he published on Aug. 21, 1869, in the Buffalo Express, a newspaper where he assumed roles as part owner and managing editor days earlier.

In his first story about his experiences in the Falls, Twain said he wanted to roll on the grass, climb a tree, have a smoke and toss a rock at some picnickers during his first visit to the American side.

Instead, he found himself "annoyed" by all the signs telling him to behave.

"I drew my flask from my pocket, but it was all in vain," Twain wrote. "A sign confronted me which said: 'No drinking allowed on these premises.'"

Twain's humorous takes on Niagara Falls from both sides of the border are recounted in a new book by local author and former Niagara Gazette staffer Thomas J. Reigstad.

"The Illustrated Mark Twain and the Buffalo Express: 10 Stories and over a Century of Sketches" offers an illustrated look at Twain's life and work from 1869 to 1872 when he called Western New York home.

The book collects 10 feature stories published by Twain for the Buffalo Express newspaper as well as an analysis from Reigstad, a Mark Twain scholar and emeritus professor of English at Buffalo State University who worked at the Niagara Gazette following the closure of the Courier Express where he was a librarian, features writer and copy editor from 1969 until 1982.

Reigstad's curiosity about Twain began in 1969 while he was doing some research for a paper as a student at the University of Missouri. He has been writing and teaching about Twain for decades now. His previous Twain book, "Scribblin' for a Livin': Mark Twain's Pivotal Period in Buffalo," was published in 2013.

In his new book, Reigstad offers readers a closer look at Twain's work in Western New York along with some of the illustrations that accompanied his writings at the time. There's an 1870 drawing done by Twain himself, originals from Express staffer John Harrison Mills, and cartoons by True Williams, the principal illustrator for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

There are also more contemporary illustrations, including reprints of 11 humorous illustrations created by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Tom Toles for a 1978 Buffalo Courier-Express Sunday Magazine series and a cartoon drawn in 1983 for "The Mark Twain Journal" by Bill Watterson, of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame.

Current Buffalo News cartoonist and another Pulitzer Prize-winner Adam Zyglis contributed two 21st Century caricatures of Twain, including the cover drawing depicting Twain in his 30s when he worked as the editor at the Buffalo Express.

Reigstad and his fellow contributors went to great lengths to make the book as authentic as possible, with periods appearing after headlines and subheads, the way it was done in the newspapers during Twain's time.

"It had never been done before," Reigstad said. "When some of the stories had been reprinted, there was no attempt to make them look at all as if they appeared in the paper. I wanted to capture that flavor of authenticity so that took a lot of doing."

Two of the 10 Twain stories offer humorous reflections on Niagara Falls. The first, "A Day at Niagara," pokes fun at all the signs and commercialism surrounding what Twain described as "one of the finest structures in the known world."

The second story — titled "English Festivities. And Minor Matters." — offers observations from the Canadian side and his time sharing drinks — a lot of drinks — with a group of Englishmen celebrating royal birthdays. The piece includes references to "the little steamer" known as the Maid of the Mist, the Cave of the Winds and Twain's drive over the Niagara River across the Suspension Bridge.

Both stories followed a three-day visit to Niagara Falls, from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6, 1869, involving Twain, his future wife, Olivia Langdon of Elmira, and her parents, including her father, wealthy businessman Jervis Langdon. As Reigstad notes in his book, they stayed at the "luxurious Cataract House" but Twain "found much about the experience to ridicule."

"He does a real good job of just kind of exposing some commercialism and how tourists don't really get a chance to appreciate the grandeur of the Falls," Reigstad said.

Part of Reigstad's new book touches on how Niagara Falls "captivated" Twain's "creative imagination for much of his career," noting that he wrote a story that appeared in an 1893 anthology called "The First Authentic Mention of Niagara Falls: Extracts from Adam's Diary" that depicts the Falls as the setting for the Garden of Eden.

"Long before the old Vaudeville routine "Niagara Falls ... Slowly I Turned," Mark Twain used Niagara Falls to trigger a 'violent' outpouring of writing projects," Reigstad writes in his book.

Twain's time in Western New York was brief, covering a period of 20 months.

Reigstad believes it had much to do with the personal tragedies Twain encountered here. His father-in-law, Jervis Langdon, passed away during that period. Twain and his wife, Olivia, also endured the loss of a child while living in Buffalo.

For that reason, Reigstad said scholars have tended to overlook the period of Twain's work, giving him the chance to go into greater detail and give it more focus.

"I was really fortunate to have fresh territory to cover," Reigstad said.

One of his discoveries during his years of Twain research: An anonymous letter sent to the Niagara Gazette days before his reflections about the Falls were to be printed in the Buffalo Express. It was, Reigstad believes, an advertisement posing as a letter written by Twain himself.

"I'm sure it was written by him," Reigstad said. "He was a master self-promoter and he wanted to stir up some controversy."

Twain's work has never been short on controversy and, in some cases, remains so today. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," due to offensive language used to describe one of its main characters, runaway slave Jim, is no stranger to banned books lists.

Reigstad said he believes Twain's overall body of work remains interesting and in many ways relevant. He hopes others will find what Twain wrote about and experienced during his time in Buffalo and in Niagara Falls to be informative and entertaining.

Author and Mark Twain scholar Thomas J. Reigstad's new book, "The Illustrated Mark Twain and the Buffalo Express," is now available at Barnes & Noble and other local bookstores and can also be purchased on Amazon, Thriftbooks and other online outlets.

Reigstad will be signing copies of his new book from noon to 3 p.m. May 25 at The Book Corner, 1801 Main St., Niagara Falls.