New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1891-02-25
Another Letter From The West

The following letter from James
Newton, written at Snoqualimie Valley,
Washington, has been received by the
editor of this paper with request 20
publish. It will be of interest to many
here, and for that reason it is given in
full --. . =C
II send you this letter in order that
l may convey to all of my old friends
in the vicinity of New Ulm brief des.
cription of this small section of the far
west with it's hospitable and sociable
people. A very large portion of the
latter is made up of old Minnesotians,
among them being S. Beuham and H.
Allen, formerly of the town of Ridgley,
Fred Pinkerton and father, E. Evenson,
Lewis Getsis and others. All Of them are
now settled along the banks of the
beautiful Snoqualimle river, and are en-
Toying prosperity on their productive
ranches. .-..-
The valley Of the river which I have
referred to is between forty and fifty
miles in extent. Twenty miles up the
river from the place where ! am stop.
ping one comes in view of the Snoqua-
limie Falls, an unbroken sheet of water
falling through height of 268 feet. 1t
is by all means the grandest scene along
the river, and in summer time hun
dreds of people from dusty Seattle, Ia
coma and Snohomish resort to this re-
treat in order to breathe the delightful
air of the valley and spend pleasant
period in the neighborhood of the falls.
The valley itself is one of the richest
in the state. Everywhere it is dotted
with thriving ranches, and hay, hops,
Vegetables and fruit can be seen in
abundance. Pears and plums grow
here to immense size, while cherries
are fully as large as the large wild
plums of Minnesota. Of wild black
berries there is no end, and red raspber-
ries can be cultivated with as much
success, as far as the size of the crop is
concerned, as fpotatoes in my native
state.
Surrounding the valley are dense for.
ests of towering cedars, fir, hemlock
and spruce, that call for admiration
from the eastern tourist, while along
the river bottomssthere are maple trees
and large specimens of the Balm Of Gil
cad growth, two and three feet in dia-
meter. The average height of the ce-
dar is 250 feet. The diameter is gener-
ally about three feet, but there are
many old cedars that measure from
seven to ten feet through at the base.
I myself have seen quite number of
this species of trees, burned hollow by
forest fires, in the trunk of which a
couple Of men could easily spread their
blankets and sleep.
As direct result of this splendid
supply of timber, logging is carried on
extensively. The logging camps open
in the spring, run through the summer
and close when the rainy season begins.
Sleighs are of no use here, as all the
hauling is done by oxen over skidways,
the skids being creased ahead Of every
load with dog-ish oil and tallow. At
present there is about four inches Of
snow on the ground, and am told that
at times they have had fall of two or
three feet, but it never remains more
than q few days, the snow itself being
almost like water, so heavy ana wet it
is. The temperature seldom falls be-
low freezing point and all The people
need in winter is good slicker or rain
coat, an umbrella and rubber boots.
Gloves. caps and heavy overcoats are
useless, and since / have been here I
have even seen many men who wear
n