88 Days in the Motherlode: Mark Twain Gets His Voice is a documentary film that explores Mark Twain’s (Samuel Clemens) early career and how his time in California’s gold country led to his literary success, including the creation of his iconic pen name.

In the fall of 1864, 29-year-old Samuel Clemens had to hide out from the San Francisco police. He went to a friend’s cabin near Angels Camp in the Sierra foothills to drink a little, smoke a little, mine a little, and listen to well-told stories by miners in the area. When he returned from these 88 days, he had a notebook full of material he would use in his writings for the rest of his career.