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"He's good enough for one thing, I should judge -- he can out-jump any frog in Calaveras County." - Mark Twain, 1865 - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
It started out as a short story from Mark Twain.
Today it’s a cherished tradition in the city of Angels Camp.
The Calaveras County Jumping Frog Jubilee is celebrating its 90th Anniversary. The competition draws thousands of spectators to see how far competitors can get a bullfrog to jump.
Bill Proctor is a seven-time frog jumping champion. He knows the history of the event well.
“Mark Twain wrote the book called The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County in the 1860's,” says Proctor. “The basic story is two minors bet on how far frogs could jump. One of the minors cheated.”
Mark Twain’s story was fictional, but the small-town Angels Camp decided to capitalize on it. The town held a frog jump contest in 1928 to celebrate the paving of Main Street, and the tradition stuck.
The rules are simple. Competitors place a frog in the middle of the stage. Once they let go, they have one minute get the frog to jump three times. The frog furthest from the center of the stage wins.
“The world record is 21 feet, 5 3/4 inches,” says Proctor. That record was set in 1986 by a frog named “Rosie the Ribeter.”
There is a whole other side to the Jumping Frog Jubilee and that is catching the frogs for the completion. The so-called “Frog Round-Up” requires volunteers to catch bullfrogs in the wild. Longtime frog catchers Mike Nash and his daughter Rachael hunt for frogs and get most of their frogs from local ponds in Angels Camp. Rachael says she has been out catching frogs ever since she could crawl.
If you don’t want to catch your own frog, the Jubilee does have hundreds of frogs to rent. Who knows, you might be the next frog jockey entered into the Angels Camp Hop of Fame.
Click here to learn more about the Jumping Frog Jubilee.
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