For escaping slaves, the journey to freedom was the hardest time .
The Underground Railroad extended throughout 14 .
northern states from Maine to Nebraska. However, the heaviest .
activities were concentrated in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, New .
York and the New England states (Compton's, 7). Many fugitives .
reached Canada by way of Detroit or Niagara Falls New York, .
others sailed across Lake Erie to Ontario from ports like Erie, .
Pennsylvania and Sandusky Ohio (World Book, 21). Once slaves .
reached Canada, they were free from the prosecution mandated .
by the Fugitive Slave Acts (Compton's,7). The runaway's on the .
Underground Railroad .
traveled by night, and used the north star for guidance. When .
clouds covered the stars, they felt trees with their hands knowing .
moss grows the thickest on the north side of trees. Slaves new .
how to survive on their own, scavenging for food, picking berries, .
cucumbers or whatever else was in their surroundings. When .
running away those slaves with clothes often wore them in layers, .
others who didn't sometimes suffered from frostbite. The slaves .
had a long way to travel on foot, some used covered wagon's, .
carriages, farm wagons as well as boats and steam trains. Fugitives .
hid in freight cars and sometimes were given regular tickets .
through Ohio, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania. Most slaves .
traveled on the railroad by foot, some lucky one's were on .
horseback. Agents of the railroad used cover operations to .
secretly transport slaves like tools or vegetables. This took .
fugitives a few miles at a time, farther north ( Underground .
Railroad, 38). Runaway's were transferred from place to place .
until reaching Canada, some even traveled by water (Compton's, .
7). The people who helped escapee's were called conductors, the .
slaves were called freight, and they traveled on routes called lines .
(Comton's, 7). The fugitives sought "stations" of farms where .
they could be hidden ( Funk and Wagnalls, 154) Stopping places .