The immigrant of Branch C was Heinrich Padberg, who was born February 10, 1833, in the Haus Kremers in Grönebach, Westfalen. In September, 1853, Heinrich (Henry) sailed on the M. C. Day from Bremen, Germany to New York, New York. One of the reasons he may have decided to immigrate to America could have been to avoid the compulsory Prussia Military Service. Sometime after his arrival in the United States he learned about a job with a wagon train on the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri.
The journey by covered wagon from Independence to Oregon was over 2000 miles and took five to six months. Henry became friends with many families. One of these was the Riggs family who had a daughter named Martha Vianna (born November 19, 1849 in Iowa.) Her family was migrating west to Oregon.
Henry and Martha were early settlers in Eastern Oregon and acquired a large wheat farm. They had six children:
