The family of Dr David B Warren and several members of the Snelling family left San Francisco by boat, crossed Panama, caught a steamer to New York, and returned to Johnson County, Missouri, in 1856. It took them six weeks, total. Apparently few of the ships went to New Orleans, which would have been closer to Missouri. Why not? Look at a globe and note the positions of the two U.S. cities relative to Panama; also, consider the likely number of passengers or amount of cargo that would be carried between the various ports. The wonderful little book, _Letters to Charlie_, available at the Mariposa Museum, has information about the Panama crossing around the mid-1850s. Cheers, Jim