The Richford, Vermont, VFW Post 12 monument committee at the 45th Parallel.

Day 17: Richford, Vermont

There are many attractions here, two of them unique. Without a doubt, this town has the largest and most elaborate marker on the parallel. Call it 3,250 permanent pounds of Richford pride. The 205 members of American Legion Post 12 spent $6,000 in 1986 making sure everyone in town knows their place.

Over by Route 105, Elie LaRoche is pulling up stakes and moving to the other side of town. He's taking along his special cemetery.

"A few years ago my nephew died, and we had to take a long drive to New York for the service. So I got to thinking. Other people had to take rides they don't enjoy, and maybe I could change that."

So Elie started collecting old boots where he works at Blue Seal Feeds. His fellow employees had no idea why anyone would want worn-out boots.

"Hey, Elie," they said, "what are you going to do with all those boots?" LaRoche put them off. "You wait and see."

By taking old boots and the notion that travelers could be cheered by a simple sign, Elie set up "Boot Hill" as a sort of joke. Seventeen pairs of boots, stuck on wooden stakes with their heels heavenward, have given many motorists a moment to smile.

But now Elie LaRoche is moving, and he promises to set up Boot Hill at his new house. His blue eyes sparkle. "Yup, I'll be living up on a hill, and I figure when I set up the cemetery, those soles will be a little closer to heaven."

Day 18: Franklin, Vermont

This is the town from where the Fenian raids in Canada were launched (1866, 1870). The raids were an attempt by Irish patriots to take over Canada. Almon Richard is the local historian. He grew up with a bullet hole in the front door of his home. "They shot at my great-grandfather because he wouldn't let the raiders in the house -- made a hole clean through the door." (There's another bullet hole through the window sash, but Almon used that hole for his radio antenna.) Mr. Richard probably knows more, and has more, on the Fenian raids than anyone in North America. Almon used to oversee the battle reenactments. "Maybe the saddest part was when we would start off with the Vincent death."

During the first raid in 1866 Margaret Vincent crossed the battlefield at night to draw some water from a well. She was ordered to halt three times by a Canadian soldier. When she didn't stop, she was shot. Almon ends with, "What that soldier didn't know was what everyone in the valley knew: poor Margaret was deaf."