I too am a "new guy," but I think that I (among many others, no doubt) can
clear up the mystery: Samuel Clemens met Charles Farrar Browne in Virginia
City, Nevada Territory while he was working for the "Territorial
Enterprise" newspaper in the early 1860s. Browne, known as Artemus Ward,
was delivering his famous "Babes in the Woods" lecture at the time, and he
was known for his broad, affected delivery. One aspect of Ward/Browne's
lecture technique was indeed adopted by Clemens; that of a slow, drawling
delivery, and subsequent feigned surprise at the audience's laughter.

During Ward/Browne's stay in Virginia City, he, Clemens and Dan DeQuille (I
believe), spend at least one drunken, riotous night on the town, and
socialized frequently during Ward/Browne's stay. There is even mention of
Ward/Browne promising Clemens a trip to Europe or the American East (I
can't remember which), later in Clemens's lecture career that never came to
fruition.

More than one source has said that Clemens's time in the West has drawn the
least interest from scholars, and this mix-up might be a product of that.
Best,
Sheldon Craig