The author examines the leading diseases and epidemics that impacted our ancestors lives as they migrated to the new world and then spread across this great country from the eastern to the western shore. The first chapter provides a broad overview of the diseases they faced. In the following chapters the focus is on specific epidemics and diseases using information taken mostly from historical newspapers which provide a more personal insight on the impact on local populations. In the last chapter the author focuses on maladies that were not in the top ten covered in previous chapters as well as non-communicable illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and alcoholism. The author also provides a personal look at some of his own ancestors and the maladies that impacted their lives as they traveled across our land, sometimes leaving the graves of their loved ones behind.