An apology, and correction. A timeline question was raised off-forum about 
Capt. Coulter's arrival in the West. The short answer there is that only 
took about a month to travel from New York to San Francisco by steamer, and 
I did not say Coulter was at Mrs. Murphy's when Sam got there in August, 
1861.
However, there had always been a lingering question in my mind as to 
whether Coulter and Slott who have signatures on the John Nye & Co timber 
claim were actually in the West. Yesterday I made my argument off-forum 
that they were in the West. But I had made the mistake of trying to prove 
my conclusion rather than to question it. Even though the timeline worked, 
last night I began to wonder if perhaps the name was affixed to the John 
Nye Timber Claim as a favor to a pair of Gov. Nye's closest friends back 
East. For an example of an affixed name, Sam Clemens wrote in an 1861 
letter than he did that for his brother in law on his timber claim.
So today I found two letters written by Coulter from New York in 1862 among 
the Nevada State Archives collection, and in them  find evidence to 
convince me I have nourished a hope which was not a fact. In March 1862 
Coulter wrote his friend Gov. Nye from New York that "I like the idea of 
going out there...."  Note that he does not say return. And both of the 
letters he wrote Nye in 1862 contain two signature elements missing in the 
partnership document signatures. So with embarrassing egg on my face, I 
withdraw the comment that Sam was living with a Civil War veteran in late 
1861, and apologize to all for starting with a conclusion and trying to 
prove it. Special thanks to Carl Chimi for questioning the timeline.