Joseph T. Goodman emigrated from New York to California in 1854. Starting as a writer and compositor on San Francisco newspapers, by 1865 he was editor and proprietor of the Virginia City (Nevada) Territorial Enterprise. Quick to recognize SLC’s gift for humorous journalism, Goodman published his first writing as “Mark Twain,” gave him encouragement and support, and became a lifelong friend. He sold out of the paper in 1874 and moved to San Francisco and then to Fresno, California, where he farmed raisins and worked at deciphering Mayan hieroglyphics, an area in which he made important contributions.