The first group from Rotterdam arrived on May 22, 1848, led by a Franciscan missionary, Fr Adrianus D. Godthard. Father Van den Broek's group, held up by an ice jam on Lake Michigan, arrived on June 10, 1848. The emigrants discovered not plowed fields and a village but forested land, being somewhat misled by wording of the "De Tijd" advertisements: the word “acres” was translated as "akkers", meaning cultivated land. There was also not enough good land in Father Van den Broek's holdings for all the emigrants. There was a resort to drawing straws, with the winners naturally picking the best lots. Many of the others - led by Cornelis van de Heij, a farmer from Zeeland, and Father Godthard - left to form the village of Holland (usually referred to locally as “Hollandtown”) rather than buying the remainder of Father Van den Broek's land. There were other Europeans, mainly French and Irish emigrants, already established at La Petite Chute, now also known by its semi-anglicized name of “Little Chute.” A few Native Americans still lived in the area. Despite the hardships, including the death of Father Van den Broek in 1851, the village prospered. Waves of Catholic Dutch emigrants followed from all over the Netherlands, with whole families and neighborhoods moving to join family and friends already established in Little Chute, Hollandtown, and the outlying farming communities. It is estimated that, by 1927, as many as 40,000 Dutch Roman Catholics had immigrated to the United States — an average rate of 10 per week for 80 years. While many headed for cities or individual farms across the country, Little Chute and the surrounding area represented the largest concentration of Catholic immigrants. From the start, St. John Nepomucene Church served as a focal point, although other churches would soon spring up in the other communities. The first settlers would have devoted all energies to clearing land, planting, building small homes and barns, fencing and raising livestock. The private Fox River Canal was a failure. The State “Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company” took over operations in 1850 and finished the canal and adjoining dam by 1856. Railways approached from the south and steamship lines were established on Lakes Michigan and Winnebago. The 16 feet of water head at La Petite Chute and other falls was used for mills, a practice that continues.