This is the account of three members of a party that left Switzerland in 1831 to found "New Switzerland" 30 miles east of St. Louis.

Most of this work consists of the diary of 26-year-old Joseph Suppiger, charged with the logistics of the trip by his uncle, Dr. Kaspar Koepfli, the leader of the group. Suppiger recounts his adventures and observations as the group made its way from Sursee, Switzerland, through France to the port of Havre, its 49-day sea voyage to New York, and its journey to St. Louis. In addition to the diary account of the journey, the book relates the group's first year and a half at Highland, Illinois, the heart of New Switzerland.