Arrival in America after the long voyage was an exciting moment. For most, however, their welcome was not what they expected, as con-men and swindlers of every kind descended upon them. As a result, some unwarned immigrants found themselves penniless and were forced to find employment in their port of entry. The majority of Norwegians, however, had their destinations fixed before their arrival in the New World. Most set out immediately to join friends or relatives in the Midwest.
After leaving New York for a journey to Wisconsin, for example, the immigrants went by steamboat up the Hudson River to Albany, where they transferred to canal boats bound for Buffalo, and finally booked passage on a Great Lakes sailing vessel for Chicago or Milwaukee. Travel times ranged between seven and ten days. These final days of the journey, however, proved to be the most difficult and dangerous segment of the entire trip. Swindlers and frauds continued to greet them at every stop and the crowding on canal and lake boats was so intense that the immigrants were shoved in like baggage.
Some immigrants were able to buy a wagon with two oxen for their final trip to the Norwegian settlement. Immigrants with no finances had to walk.
Written by Richard J. Fapso, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
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