Among the casual presences attracted by that old California was a certain Sam Clemens who had begun to write over the signature of Mark Twain but had received no general recognition. Curiously enough it was through Bret Harte and The Californian that his first hit was made. A month after their first meeting Mr Clemens called on Harte, who tells this story:

Bret Harte was at this time secretary to the superintendent of the United States Mint and also had a place upon the staff of The Golden Era to which upon the collapse of The Californian Mark Twain became a frequent contributor. Most of Harte's own work during this period was purely journalistic in effect though he had already produced prose and verse of a literary quality.

To read the complete book on Google Books, see:
https://books.google.com/books?id=hshaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA22#v=onepage&f=false

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
HOLABIRD-KAGIN AMERICANA WESTERN STATES TOKEN AUCTION MARCH 2012 (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n13a16.html)
QUIZ ANSWER: THE HARTE-TWAIN NUMISMATIC CONNECTION (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v15n14a09.html)