Edgar M. Branch has written about the Pilots' Association in: Title: Mark Twain and the starchy boys / Author(s): Branch, Edgar Marquess, 1913- Publication: Elmira, NY : Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies at Quarry Farm, Year: 1992 Description: iv, 97 p. ; 23 cm. I believe that at one time Branch was also working on providing annotation for a University of California Press edition of _Life on the Mississippi_, I'm not sure what the status of that publication is now. Another source for steamboat terminology not mentioned in previous responses to the earlier question is: Title: A Mark Twain lexicon, Author(s): Ramsay, Robert L. 1880-1953. (Robert Lee),; Emberson, Frances Guthrie,; 1912- ; joint author. Publication: New York, Russell & Russell, Year: 1963 Barb