That was an amusing quote from Will Rogers! Thanks for posting that. Remember, all these pioneers' parents were also pioneers! The American Spirit seems to have been for people who wanted out of the stifling European atmosphere (and many of mine were fighting the Catholic Church or the Church of England-French Huguenots, Puritans, German Lutherans, Scottish Jacobites, so they were self-selected for the trait of being rebellious. Then, after they won the right for independence from England and defeated the natives in Ohio, west of the Appalachians really opened up to those with adventurous spirits. Some kept moving west, but all of mine stayed in West Virginia after they got there. The Gateses and Rands came from New England to Waterford, Hocking Valley and Gallipolis areas, then to what was Kanawha Court House, VA and now is Charleston, WV. My other Scotch-Irish, German and English ancestors, came through another migratory route of the New River from Newport, Giles County, VA. They settled down and helped the Kanawha Valley to be very prosperous. It wasn't until I left in 1968 that there was a migration for my direct lineage. There is a great migration to the Sunbelt since then, of course. Still, I feel a little guilty. (frown!) Sharon Lee Gates In a message dated 3/15/2005 9:36:14 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, OHGALLIA-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: Indeed they were hardy....but it reminds me of what Will Rogers had to say about pioneers: " I think if we just stopped and looked history in the face, a pioneer wasn't a thing in the world, but a guy that wanted something for nothing." LOL, hardy, yes, but looking for free land after he had exhausted the old land.......