The 665 Saxon immigrants of 1838–39 played a crucial role in the formation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, one of the largest Lutheran Church bodies in the United States today.

This book is an English translation of an 1867 account of that Lutheran migration written by immigrant pastor J. F. Koestering. It compiles eyewitness accounts and personal reflections on the journey from German homeland to unfamiliar American soil and their struggles with all types of tragedies and challenges in the first years of settling in Missouri.