Roughing It is semi-autobiographical travel literature written by American humorist Mark Twain. It was authored during 1870-71 and published in 1872 as a prequel to his first book Innocents Abroad. Roughing It follows the travels of young Mark Twain through the "Wild West" during the years 1861-1867. After a brief stint as a Confederate cavalry militiaman, he joined his brother who had been appointed Secretary of the Nevada Territory, on a stagecoach journey west. Twain consulted his brother's diary to refresh his memory and borrowed heavily from his active imagination for many stories in the novel.- Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.