My family from both sides came to North America early and moved west with the earliest.
My Mother's side were French and settle in Canada early 1600s, some of the first to settle in Ste. Geneviève, Missouri 1700s, my GreatGreatgrandfather was born there in 1818 and moved his family to Cloverdale California to raise grapes in the 1840s. I found an article from a San Francisco paper about his death in 1876, the toll booth Lady observed his wagon carrying grapes flip over on a steep bank throwing him 75 feet over a cliff to his death.
Lots of characters from both sides of my family.
Kent
