Hi Kathleen, Your family sounds very interesting and you have a lot of nice stories about them. Isn't it fun when they seem so real to us. Yes, some Glarus settlers heading for New Glarus, Wisconsin, did indeed enter America via New Orleans Port. Most came using the East-West canal system from NY - before the railroad was complete. I do not know if your family or families entering via LA came with a group and an agent or not. Check the ship manifest for clues, and you may see a connection. (i.e. many from the same town, perhaps.) And it may always be a mystery to why they did not continue to Wisconsin but rather chose to settle in Louisiana. (Your reasons are very logical...the weather, and a new start). Does the manifest reveal other Hefti family members besides your family? If so, they may have gone on to WI, and you may still have relatives in New Glarus. I DO know that the whole of Canton Glarus (which again is not large) was involved in the lottery, and that there are indeed Hefti (Hefty) families who immigrated to New Glarus. New Glarus was just a town for the Glarus citizens; other Swiss families traveled to America to other towns, farmlands, and cities. Too bad for those family searchers - information is harder to find, and they may not have intermarried with other Swiss families as my ggrandparents did. "Glarus" descendents have it quite lucky! The books that are available on New Glarus history can be found at the New Glarus library or on line at the New Glarus web site. (Which may be of interest to others from CH even if not from Glarus.) Much that I know on this subject has also been carried down through the family. I know that I could not help much...Regards, Nellie, a 68-yr-old root digger _http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwartwo/_ (http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwartwo/) WWII index - free for today _http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwarone/_ (http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwarone/) WWI - free until 25 Nov 2005