Roger, the number of days spent on the trip are right, with the caveat that they paused a day or two in Salt Lake City while enroute. There, Orion conferred with his Utah Territory counterpart and with Brigham Young. Once in Carson City, the Wikipedia version comes close, but is not on target: On arriving in Carson City, Orion determined he could not pay a clerk until the Legislative session opened. Gov. Jas W. Nye, having arrived earlier than Orion and Sam, used his personal secretary, Sam Gallagher, as "Secretary" to issue a proclamation for election of legislators, and a territorial legislative session to open October 1. At that time (Oct. 1), Sam Clemens did become Orion's clerk for the duration of the session. In the time between their arrival and October 1, while Orion got his office organized, brother Sam visited the mining camp of Aurora with Bob Howland, and twice visited the Nevada Tahoe Timber Claim of his boarding house roommate John Nye's "Brigade" Lake Tahoe timber claim, its location documented in a number of recorded Ormsby County (Now Carson City) surveys. ("Irish Brigade" and "brigade's claim" were names Mark Twain created for his 1872 written-to-entertain book Roughing It.) Bob Stewart Carson City In a message dated 11/19/2014 6:58:35 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: I like it too. Lincoln's wry sense of humor distilled. According to Wikipedia, Orion and Sam left for Nevada from St. Joseph, MO on July 18, 1861. The trip would take 19 days, at $150. a ticket for the stagecoach, which SLC covered from his saved earnings as a pilot. Orion had the Sec. of State position appt., but no money to get there. Sam financed the trip and would become Orion's Assistant. Destined to be an uneasy situation and not to his liking, he moved on not very long after. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Twain_in_Nevada Roger Durrett Charlotte, NC In a message dated 11/19/2014 9:32:45 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: I like the anecdote. ;-) Speaking of such things, does anyone know how long it took the Clemens' boys to get from Missouri to Nevada? How many days? Thanks. Simple curiosity. DDD