In our celebrity culture that seems to only want to recognize the comings, goings, and shenanigans of the beautiful, gifted, and wealthy it's easy to forget that most all of our ancestors arrived in the Midwest by water. Some came up the Mississippi and then the Missouri in all sorts of water craft but many crossed the ocean of prairie grass in boats of a different sort. Back then, these travels, many of which lasted for weeks or months, were more often called the way to go rather than a crazy adventure.
