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Decided to Immigrate
I was a college teacher in France. One day in the morning while I was preparing my lessons for the day, my boss just came in and fired me. I searched all over trying to find a job so I could afford my taxes and feed my family but there were none. That was when I heard about all of the well-paying jobs in America and I was templted to come. I also heard about the new immigration center, Ellis Island. I then made my decision to immigrate here with my wife and two daughters. -
Traveling to America
On wour way to America, the quarters were crowded with limited privacy. Meals were simple and were provided to meet very basic nutritional requirements. Occasionally, my daughters would see the wealthy people on the upper deck and ask me why they has such better quality food and a more cleaned deck. Once I got off of that wretched boat, I breathed a sigh of releaf. -
Arrive at Ellis Island
From right when I first stepped foot in America, I was very confused. There were so many people crowding me, I coulnd't lift my arms. Once I got into the examination room, I could barely understand the people guiding me. Once my family and I passed the examination and questions, we took the ferry back to the mainland and to our new life. -
Moving West
Over the past few past few months, I searched for jobs everywhere but I found none that could support my familly. We were barely living off of the money we had so we had to find a way to get money quick. While I was looking, I heard of the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon Territory. The main goldfield was along the south flank of the Klondike River. Seeming like a great oppertunity, we bought a horse an carrige and started off in the direction of Canada. -
Daughter Dies
While we were halfway through our trek across the America, my oldest daughter got pneumonia. We worried about her but we still kept on traveling. As we got closer to the West, her sickness got worse and worse. We decided to camp out for a couple nights on the border of Oklahoma. She started to get better and we decided to keep going. The morning we were planning to start our journey again, she never woke up. We buried her the next day and decided to not go to Canada and find a home in Oklahoma. -
Free Land
The Territorial Free Home League lobbied for the repeal of parts of the acts that required settlers to pay for certain former Indian lands in Oklahoma. In the opening of the Unassigned Lands settlers filed claims under the Homestead Act, which agreed a residency of five years, certain improvements, and payment of land office fees only. We got a farm with rich land that was great for crops. Over the next couple of years, we grew fruit and vegetables, sold them, and obtained a very large fortune.
