Waiting in Weston

In 1849, Dora Bentz Herter and her husband decide to leave their native Switzerland and start a new life in America, a journey of several thousand miles, which includes crossing an ocean in a ship designed for hauling cotton, not people.

After crossing the Atlantic, they must navigate two large rivers in crowded, precarious steamboats to reach their destination, the bustling port town of Weston, Missouri. After their arrival, Dora writes home and encourages the rest of her family to join the...