Two contributions:
1) For those interested in what Mark Twain was doing while he was out West,
I have put out an audiobook that enacts some of his interactions: It is
free on Itunes this month (June). It's called "Mark Twain's San Francisco
Love Triangle"
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1610385952

    Check it out! again- completely free this month! (from 5 chapters of my
book- "Adventures of Mark Twain in the West- How I Became an Author."
Specifically, it enacts Twain's interactions in his relationship with Bret
Harte, Charles Stoddard, and Ina Coolbrith during the time period when
Twain was forced to run from San Francisco up to Jackass Flat on the
Stanaslaus (where he heard stories of that certain celebrated jumping frog
of Calaveras County).
      The story is set in the context of some of the critical events in
American history of the time- For example, it tells of the jubilation and
dancing in the streets of San Franciso as the Civil War came to a
close--which joy turned to sorrow a week later with the assassination of
President Lincoln.
    In other words, it places Mark Twain squarely in and among the
important events of his times, something that I am not aware of in other
dramatic works- If there is, please let me know, as that might help me on
my next work on Sam's Early Travels before Sam climbed on the Overland
Stage for the Nevada Territory (where he took on the nom d' plum of Mark
Twain).
     The next item references those Early Travels:

    2) Following up on the continuing research about Sam's earliest trip-
1853 to New York, Philadelphia and DC, and rectifying the scant facts that
Sam relayed about his return to St. Louis in 1854 that Scott has been
working on.
The facts that needed to be rectified were:
  a) Sam reported his return trip took 3 days on the train and he did it
without sleeping,
  b) Scott confirms that there were no direct train connections.
  c) -b) seemed to contradict the first statement in two ways- regarding
time, and as there were two legs to Sam's journey to NYC where Sam traveled
by water, (Lake Eirie and down the Hudson), both of which took a great deal
more time than it would have taken by train.
      The solution appears to be that Sam took the same route back to St
Louis AFTER he got to Cleveland,. The key is that he got to Cleveland in
one day by bypassing BOTH of the water legs of his trip to NYC by taking
the Pennsylvania Railroad to Pittsburgh, crossing the River (the only part
by water, on a VERY short ferry), and traveling directly to Clevland via a
train that had been completed in 1851.
    This could get him from NYC to St. Louis in the 3 days he reported.
     Scott? What do you think?
Peter