Roughly half of the Alta letters Clemens brought home with him because he
wrote them on the return trip across the Atlantic. He presumably then sent
them to California via the Isthmus, not overland. But I can't see how else
earlier letters could have been sent to the Alta (or the Tribune) except by
transatlantic steamship.

On Wed, Sep 18, 2024 at 6:02 AM Dave Davis <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I asked Google's AI this question, and I'm not satisfied with this answer.
>
> Is there a better one?
>
> Respectfully,
>
> /DDD
>
> ---
>
> *During his trip to Europe, Mark Twain wrote letters to the Daily Alta
> California (newspaper). How did these letters get back to the American
> newspaper?*
>
> *Mark Twain's letters to the Daily Alta California were likely transported
> back to the United States by steamship.*
>
> During the 19th century, steamships were the primary means of transatlantic
> travel. Twain would have mailed his letters from European ports to a ship's
> post office. These letters would then be delivered to the United States,
> where they would be forwarded to the Daily Alta California's offices in San
> Francisco.
>
> This process, while slower than modern communication methods, was
> relatively efficient for the time. Steamships could cross the Atlantic in a
> matter of weeks, allowing Twain's letters to reach his readers relatively
> quickly.
>