In a message dated 03/06/2000 9:27:53 AM Pacific Standard Time, dbp@csd.uwm.edu writes: << I figure they most likely came up the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien or LaCrosse after traveling that far by train from upper NY state. From what I've heard, train travel at that time was more likely than wagon train to WI. Although I've also heard that boat travel through the Great Lakes to Milwaukee or Chicago was also a possibility. Might you have any insights into how the French Canadians who immigrated to Pepin County in the 1860s most likely got there from NY state? >> I think it very likely that at least some of the Patnodes and LaPeans came together, since they were much intermarried. The story that was given me was that from the shore of Lake Champlain near Chazy, Clinton Co., NY, they got into their paddleboat and started paddling. They went up the lake, up the Richelieu river, and stopped to visit the family at Ste-Genevieve-de-Berthier and St-Cuthbert. Then, back into the boat, and paddle some more, up the St. Lawrence, through Lake Ontario, and down the south shore of Lake Erie as far as Toledo, Ohio, where they wintered over and lost a couple of the crew through matrimony; also picked up a couple of new folks through matrimony (I have corresponded with one of the Toledo group--they use Barror derived from Berard rather than LaPean derived from Lepine). Next spring, as soon as weather permitted, back into the boat; up around Michigan's lower peninsula to Green Bay; portage over to Lake Oshkosh; short portage over to the Wisconsin River and down to Prairie du Chien; then up the Mississippi to the Chippewa at Lake Pepin. They must have had muscles on top of muscles on their paddling legs; no wonder they built an altar out of the boat! On the other hand, I have not been told that any of the other families did it that way! Virginia