The hazards of early travel

In the early history of the settlement of the city of Sheboygan and Sheboygan County, travel by water was by far the preferred means by which settlers migrated to this area.

Travel by land from the east coast could take up to three months, a bone-jarring journey over roads that barely existed. Roads were stump-filled and rutted and became impassable when rains turned them to a quagmire. Often travel was obstructed with washed out bridges, fallen trees, mud and, in dry weather, choking dust. It is no wonder that ships brought most newcomers to our area.

But there was one advantage to traveling by land – immigrants could bring with them more of their personal belongings. Some could afford a wagon and a team of horses, but more often wagons were pulled by a sturdy team of oxen. Those that could not afford a wagon and a team had no choice but to walk, dragging behind them or pushing in front of them small carts filled with all their worldly possessions. On a good day they would be lucky to cover 15 or 20 miles.

Between the years 1850 to 1900, millions of immigrants flooded the Midwest in a seemingly endless torrent. If the new comers traveled by the water route from New York, they sailed up the Hudson River to the start of the Erie Canal where they transferred to what were called line boats. Even though the trip by water was less arduous, the water journey was no pleasure cruise. The boats were often overcrowded and dirty with barely enough room to sit or stand. The decks were jammed with boxes, crates and luggage of all kinds.

Generally the interior of the boat was one long room with no chance of any kind of privacy. This long narrow room was utilized as the dining room as well as the sleeping area. The cost of the trip was one-andone half cents a mile, which included food, often poorly prepared. After about a week, the travelers would arrive at Buffalo, at the head of the Great Lakes, where they would then book passage on a side-wheel steamer for the completion of their journey.

Travel though the Great Lakes, though less arduous, held its own significant level of peril. Weather forecasting was in its infancy and passengers and crew relied on their captain’s ability to read weather signs, such as clouds, winds and wave conditions. Few captains had any regard for charts and relied on memory to avoid reefs and the underwater obstructions of rocks and shallow water.

To save a few cents on kerosene, many ships ran without lights at night, a bit of economy that resulted in many dreadful collisions and caused great loss of life and property. William Farnsworth, the founder of Sheboygan, lost his life in just such an accident.

Then there were boiler explosions when inattentive crews allowed boilers to run dry.

But the most dreaded calamity of all was FIRE! The fire hazard on early steamers was horrific. With redhot boilers in all-wooden ships painted with inflammable oil paints, it is not hard to understand why many of these early ships caught fire. A horrible example of this was the burning of the steamer Phoenix near Sheboygan. Out of 350 passengers and crew, a mere 47 persons survived, just 7 miles from their destination, Sheboygan.

Here in Sheboygan, in those early days, we experienced an absolute flood of immigration. By 1853, 13,400 immigrants had landed; by 1854, that grew to 20,914; by 1850 even that number doubled!

It’s hard for us today, as we cruise down a four-lane concrete highway at 65 miles per hour, listening to our stereos, to imagine how difficult and dangerous travel really was in those days long ago.

Today’s snippet: In the year 1847, Sheboygan County experienced frost in every month of the year.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for a future column, please feel free to contact me at (920) 458-2974, or e-mail wangemann@yahoo.com.

Every Tuesday morning at 7:20 a.m. these columns are reviewed on Radio Station 1420 “The Breeze.”