Hi all, >From the Vanderburgh County list I got this interesting comment about how immigrants got to Southern Indiana: "Three routes brought German immigrants to Indiana: (1) by landing at New York and continuing by way of the Great Lakes and the canals, (2) by landing at Baltimore and traveling overland by wagon for 2 weeks to Wheeling, West Virginia, then by boat down the Ohio River, and (3) by way of the Mississippi River. The second route was the safest, also the most expensive. The first route was so hazardous that Lake Erie was called the German graveyard. The voyage by way of the Mississippi River was also hazardous. The paddle boats had to go upstream and some of the boilers overheated and exploded, the boats burned, and the loss of life and possessions was heavy. Some boats sank, some were caught on sand bars and jetties. However, almost all of the immigrants came this way. It cost about half as much to come by way of New Orleans as by way of the Great Lakes. Most Knox County settlers came via the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, then by wagon from Evansville." HTH Cindy