THE JOURNEY WEST
Many of our ancestors made the journey west to Minnesota at the time the frontier reached the Mississippi River This limited their travel options as there were very few routes connecting the east coast and the Mississippi River Valley. Overland travel was rare. Most emigrants depended on water travel. At the time our ancestors moved to Minnesota meant either rivers or lakes. A link to a chart showing their arrival in Minnesota helps set the time frame for this article.
There is no detailed record of any of our families and their travels westward to Minnesota. However, we can use what we know of geographic and historical maps and draw in some possible routes based on what we know about their stops along the way.
In researching this material I also discovered that many of our Norwegian and Irish immigrants landed at Quebec in Canada. The next stage of their travel would along the St. Lawrence River and through the Great Lakes. There were several Norwegian ancestors who might have used this route: Evensons (1848), Knutsons (1851), Hagens (1852), and the Ericksons.
Another possible route west for many of our ancestors could have involved the Erie Canal. First opened in 1825, the Canal provided an easy passage through the Appalachian Mountains. Many immigrants who landed in New York would travel up the Hudson River to Albany, cross the state of New York via the Canal, and then use the Great Lakes to continue their journey westward to Minnesota
Once they reached the end of the Erie Canal they had two choices, either overland travel or the Great Lakes. The use of the Great Lakes for some portion of the trip was very common during this time period. The Erie Canal ended at the eastern end of Lake Erie. Most immigrants would then take some form of boat transportation to transverse this body of water. Once they reach the western end of the Lake they once again had a choice. There was a road connecting Detroit and Chicago but it was a toll road. The other alternative was to use both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan to continue their travels west by boat.
Using overland travel the entire way was rare. Most immigrants did not have the means to travel the entire distance from the east coast to Minnesota. They came to America with only a trunk full of personal items and some food. One exception might have been the Meyer family. It is rumored that they brought a fine carriage with them from Germany. We know the Bardens arrived in Minnesota with a wagon and a team of oxen but it is more likely these were purchased at some point along the way. The same is probably true for several other families that finally arrived in Minnesota by wagon (Kannes, Bauer/Webers, etc.).
In addition to not possessing the means of transportation, most of our ancestors did not have the financial resources available for tolls, over-night lodging, etc. Boats and barges were convenient as the immigrants could sleep on deck. But perhaps the major obstacle in overland travel was the inconsistency. A good road would end and a dirt path would follow. Snow and rain would make these nearly impassible. Water transportation simply proved easier and more efficient.
Rail travel was another possibility. By 1860 the railroad reached as far west as the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wisconsin. Once they reached the Mississippi it was a different story.
There is also the strong possibility that some families combined these forms of travel. A good example could have been the Erie Canal across New York, the Great Lakes, especially Lake Erie, before catching the railroad at the western end of the Lake. Išll return to this possibility later in this essay.
We should now take a look at a different approach to this journey. Some families took a complicated journey making several prolonged stops along the way. We have a fairly good idea of the route the Conways and Cullitons took westward after their arrival in the new land. As you study the map, and read the following please keep in mind that this party consisted of two large families, including married sons and daughters with their infants.
They landed in Montreal, Canada. Wešre not sure of the exact date but know it is during the early part of the 1850šs. There is one record showing 1850 and another 1854.
We next find them in Fair Haven, Vermont where a marriage of one couple and a birth for another took place in 1854. Fair Haven is near the southern end of Lake Champlain located on the border of New York and Vermont. We can therefore assume they used that long body of water as a route of travel.
The next stop is Lancaster, PA, just west of Philadelphia. The obituary of Margaret Culliton mentions this location as a place of residence. From there they migrated westward to Ashtabula, Ohio located on Lake Erie just east of Cleveland. Another birth and a death occur there in 1857-58.
Wešre not sure how the family moved from Ohio to Minnesota. They could have either used the Great Lakes or a land route. Both are distinct possibilities. The map shows a possible land route through Chicago. If this was their choice much of the travel could have been done by railroad.
They finally arrived in Minnesota, first settling in Faribault in 1858 before moving to Waseca County in 1860.
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Why They Chose Minnesota (next article) |
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