Mark Twain alive, well and in Virginia City

On the porch of Samuel Clemens' brother Orion's historic home, waiting for the next tour group to arrive Saturday morning, McAvoy Layne was slipping deftly in and out of his Mark Twain persona.

"I'm going to run a 10K tomorrow," said the Incline man whose old-fashioned white suit conceals a runner's build. "Not bad for a 165-year-old man, eh? I think I'll win my class - don't think there's anyone else entered in the 150 and over group."

Then Laura Adler, also in 19th-century costume, arrived with a group of 30-odd participants in the Wild West Tour and Layne/Twain swung into a humorous whirlwind account of the Comstock newsman's life in Carson City and Virginia City.

Someone asked if Twain wrote his Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn works here.

"No, the book you'll want to read is 'Roughing it,' if you can find it," Layne advised. "I'm doing videos nowadays - it doesn't seem anybody reads anymore."

The 90-minute Wild West Tour, which also runs every half hour from10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. today, takes participants to several of the historic homes, churches and other businesses on Carson's west side. Much of it follows the self-guided Kit Carson Trail or "Blue Line" walking tour, but this weekend's event offered added attractions for the $5 price.

Among the characters speaking at various locations were Wally Earhart as Abe Lincoln, Layne acting as Twain and there was a re-creation of the wife of Carson founder Abe Curry. Special presentations were set up in two churches and a shotgun wedding was staged in a wedding chapel.

And the whole tour could be enjoyed while riding in a horse-drawn wagon for an extra charge.

The tour was sponsored by the Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau and Carson City Redevelopment. The next guided tour will have a different flavor when the Ghost Walk Tour returns in October.