How Far Did Immigrants Travel in Search of a Home?

Just how difficult were the 17th and 18th centuries? What gave new emigrants the gumption to travel out West in search of a new home? And how about those families who ventured as far west as the falls of the Ohio River?

If you are researching your ancestors, it should not be surprising to learn that the Scots, Irish, and Germans arrived in America during the 18th century, mostly landing in the Philadelphia port. From there, they found temporary homes before taking the great trial westward through the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia.

Scot-Irish and German settlers poured into the regions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina. From there, they traveled the Wilderness Road through the Alleghany Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. They followed the path of the Buffalo like the Indians had done. Land companies and adventurers purchased land from the Indians along the way in hopes of developing the region for a profit.

Settlers had incidences of Indian attacks. The opposition along the Ohio River from the Shawnee was a recurring thieving, scalping, and taking white women as slaves. When Governor Dinsmore of Virginia called out the Militia of every county to go after the Shawnee, only two militia companies met the Shawnee at the falls of the Ohio River where the…