Why Calaveras County is Obsessed With Frogs
Calaveras County in Northern California Absolutely loves frogs, they are obsessed. Frog murals, frog statues, frog plaques, a frog walk of fame and of course they have the annual Jumping Frog Jubilee where they have the annual Jumping frog competition. So why is Calaveras County, Angels Camp in particular, frog obsessed? To the point there was a court case that went to the Calaveras Supreme Court about a frogs and toads? Well To answer that question I have got to tell you a story. ..
One day a man went to talk to a guy named Simon Wheeler, about a guy named Leo Smiley. Mr. Wheeler was found at a bar sleeping in the small town called Angels Camp. He was a fat guy with a bald head and was pretty happy to be awoken by a friendly face. He didn't recall Leo Smiley but did a man named Jim Smiley so he told this man about him instead,
Mr. Wheeler went on to say that Smiley lived here back in either 1849 or 1850 and he was a betting man. Always betting on anything to make a buck. He didn't care what the bet was about, he just loved the gamble. He bet on dog fights, cat fights, chicken fights. if two birds were sitting on a fence he'd bet on which bird flew away first. One time a man in town's wife was sick and smiley had asked how she was doing, the man replied that she was doing better. He took a bet that she would not.
Mr. Wheeler went on and on about all the different bets he'd seen smiley do and he came upon a story about a frog.
Once upon a sunny day, Smiley found a frog, they say,
And set his mind to train this green fellow to hop away.
For three months, tirelessly, he trained with fervent glee,
Each day the frog jumped higher, filled with jubilee.
This frog, named Daniel Webster, by Smiley's decree,
Became a jumper extraordinaire, you see.
"Just say the word, 'flies, Daniel, Flies!' with a thump,
And watch him soar, this frog with the perfect jump.
Proud of his amphibian, Smiley took him 'round the town,
In a little lattice box, Daniel wore his crown.
A city slicker came, curious and keen,
"What's in the box?" he asked, eyes gleaming.
"It's a frog," said Smiley, "a jumper of great renown,
In Calaveras County, he'll out-jump any frog in town."
The slicker scoffed, couldn't fathom the reason why,
This frog was so special, why Smiley let out a sigh.
A bet was struck, forty bucks on the line,
But the slicker had no frog, no jumper so fine.
"Wait here," said Smiley, "I'll fetch one to compete."
Leaving Daniel with the slicker, off Smiley did beat.
While Smiley was away, the slicker made his move,
Bullets in the frog's mouth, his scheme did improve.
When Smiley returned, they put the frogs side by side,
And watched as the outcome they couldn't abide.
The slicker's frog soared, while Daniel stayed low,
Smiley, bewildered, could hardly let go.
True to his word, he paid the slicker his fee,
But as the man left, he muttered in glee.
"There's nothing special about that frog," he proclaimed,
Leaving Smiley to inspect, feeling a bit maimed.
Turning Daniel over, a shocking sight to behold,
Bullets fell to the ground, the mystery now told.
In pursuit of the slicker, Smiley dashed in vain,
But the stranger disappeared, leaving behind his stain.
That was my condensed version of a short story by a guy who you'd know as Mark Twain.
Twain, back in 1865 found himself in the mining town of Angels Camp, California. He was a journalist who was not doing so well in his profession. He was hanging around a bar one night when the bartender told a story about Jim Smiley and his jumping frog. Mark Twain thought it was a nice little story so he took it and made it his own, and sent it off to be published. It was put in the New York Saturday Press and it basically went viral, partially because it was a funny and happy story in the midst of the Civil War. It went on to get published in a bunch of papers and Twain took that opportunity to write a book of short stories called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches.
From there Mark Twain decided to pursue fiction writing as a career and went on to write all the popular books you've probably heard of like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. But The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras was his first and was the one that brought him into the limelight.
Now, Calaveras County started hosting the county fair in 1893 but in 1928 the idea was put out to make it unique, like say... a Frog Jumping Competition.
The first competition had about 51 frogs from all over California, the next year it ballooned to 500 frogs and one was even shipped in from France.
The competitionis different from the story though, the frog get 3 jumps. and it is by length not height and the total of the three is the score.
The Current World Record holder is a frog from 1986 from Santa Clara named Rosie the Ribeter. She jumped 21 feet 5 and 1 quarter inches.
You might think that's it. Nope. Back in 1960 when the Winter Olympics were over by lake Tahoe at Squaw Valley, the Jumping Frog Competition was called the Frog Olympics. there were 670 frogs, 70 were international frogs coming from places like the Netherlands, Kenya, Japan, The Philippines, Australia and even Iran!
Another note, There’s a Greek textbook by a guy named Dr. Henry Sidgwick. A very similar Jumping frog story is mentioned between an Athenian and a Boethian. many people think that this is the true origin but the truth is, and Sidgwick admitted it to Mark Twain, it was written based off the Short Story Twain wrote.
So now you know why Angels camp and Calaveras County is obsessed with frogs. If you can, go there some day and try to find all the frogs there are and Go to the Jumping Frog Jubilee, it's a lot of fun.
if you had a frog and were to enter it in the competition. what would you name it, let me know in the comments.
People kept trying to enter toads into the competition. The official rule was the amphibian had to be tail less which toads have tails. It got to the point where the fair manager threatened to harm any toad that was entered. there was debate and eventually it went to to the superior court of calaveras county where it was officially decreed that no toads were allowed, the competition was exclusively for frogs.
