I am looking for specific information about Stephen Crane's experience
in the west that may have inspired The Blue Hotel.

Perhaps this brief biography can help:
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/scrane.htm

If there was any specific information available, I expect that in the
many discussions of "The Blue Hotel" it would be mentioned  - and
maybe it is, but I just didn't find it.  Also, Crane, as a journalist
and novelist, got firsthand experience with his subjects, suggesting
that the scene and characterizations could well have been based on his
experiences in Texas and Mexico.

On the other hand, Crane's short life did not allow him to report much
about himself, so it is also quite likely that little is known about
his experiences in the West.