I do think they probably went by way of the Hudson River and Erie Canal. The Canal really opened up the west to travel from New England. People from RI most likely sailed from a port like Fall River to NY, then up the Hudson. That's how my own ancestors did it, I know, but they stopped near Albany, before the Erie Canal was built. Later some of the family went on west. It sounds cumbersome to us because we're used to highways, but back then water was the easiest way to go.