Barb, thank you so much for this information!  I had checked Sketches but
haven't seen the Buffalo Express book yet.  You are VERY kind to take the
time for this clarification.
I ran into another one about H.W. Beecher raising potatoes...in a Decatur
newspaper.

One very peculiar thing I've read is a criticism of Twain by Alexander N.
DeMenil.  He speaks of being "puzzled" by Twain's popularity, who he
considers "coarse."   (The Literature of the Louisiana Territory - 1904)

I'm refreshing my interest  after recently learning that my  1963 master's
thesis on
Twain is available on the internet.  I could download it for $32 but was
able to reread 24 pages of it, so passed.  I have my hard copy.  (And I
wonder that the copyright belongs to the digitalizers.)  This paper led,
years later, to time spent at the Mark Twain Papers in Berkeley in 1978 and
that resulted in time spent pouring over microfilm
of old newspapers in 1983.  I've been resting up from it all til now.

I review this to explain how I'm out of date on familiarity with Mark Twain
research.
Extremely grateful for your contributions.

Arianne Laidlaw