Friend sent me the following article. I guessed that Lincoln's appointment for Orion to go to Nevada was it or the end of traffic on the river. . Boy, was I wrong. This is a fascinating possibility I'd never heard about before. http://civilwartalk.com/threads/whats-the-connection-between-mark-twain-the-civil-war-and-abraham-lincoln.23525/ -- Arianne Laidlaw