Legendary stagecoach driver who was the subject
of a chapter in Mark Twain’s book, “Roughing It.” Monk, who
is buried in Carson City, was often called the “King of the Stage Drivers” by
Twain. In “Roughing It,” Twain told how Monk, who frequently carried
passengers between Nevada and California, had been engaged by famed New York
editor Horace Greeley to take him from Carson City to Placerville, California
for a lecture. Greeley allegedly told Monk he needed to reach the distant community
as quickly as possible.
“Hank Monk cracked his whip and started off at
an awful pace. The coach bounced up and down in such a terrific way that it jolted
the buttons all off of Horace’s coat, and finally shot his head clean through
the roof of the stage, and then he yelled at Hank Monk and begged him to go easier—said
he warn’t in as much of a hurry as he was a while ago,” Twain wrote. “But
Hank Monk said, ‘Keep your seat, Horace, and I’ll get you there on
time!’—and you bet you he did, too, what was left of him!” According
to legend, Monk could make the 109-mile journey between Carson City and Placerville
in less than 10 hours.
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