Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-09-02

4s4ssszEsl $z? s5.a
Vol. 9. =, y ~. :
|l.|:l! nEl SON 5 u ! TELLS ABOUT TRIP
Z z sntsr sting letter f,om Ole r. neI.
son. aox loestsd st Wh.tcom,
Washlngton. =
Inc following letter from Ole T.
Nelson' who went to Washington q
snort time ago, may be of interest to
some OF our readers: = =
.s 2s.5:s, " y. HATcoM, II Wash, Aug. 26, 1903.
We arrived at Whatcom Saturday
!. morning, Aug. 22, and found all the
folks we'll and evidently we'll pleased
With the country. Berty has i'm
proved wonderfully since she came
out here. Louis is working in q saw
mill, and judging from the way in
which he has been gaining flesh since
ne came here he must be feeling all
right. I. G. Tollefson seems to be
we'll pleased with Washington. He
has been staying with US from. .Satur-
day till this morning, when he went
back to Seattle. He will be back in
Willmar in a couple of weeks. like
the place they have. bought. Most of
all 1 like the fruit trees, which are so
loaded down with fruit that the
a branches are breaking. It is wonder
:-ful to see how the fruit grows out
here.
I. G. Tollefson, Louis and myself
were out to Lake Whatcom last Sun
day. 1t was very refreshing to get
out In the country, with it's fresh air
and beautiful scenery. There are two
beautiful waterfalls by the lake. I
tell you it was different from going
out to Spicer from Willmar. The
street cars run out to the lake and it
costs only five cents each way, so a
person can afford to 60 on an excur-
sion whenever he has time.
Well, I must tell you something
about our journey. From the time we
left Willmar until we arrived in
Whatcom we travelled 1869 miles We
left Willmar August IA. At Mime
apolis we changed cars for Omaha,
where we arrived at $40 the next
morning. We did not have chance
to see anything of Omaha, as the
agent told US the train for Denver
would leave at ten O'Clock. It did not
leave until one O'Clock p. M, but as
we did not know it was late we did not
dare to leave the depot except to get
our meals. We got started at last,
and arrived in Denver at two o'clock
the next morning. We stopped in
Denver all day Sunday, seeing the
sights of that beautiful city. We
kept on the 60 all day and took in a
concert and stereopticon entertain
ment in the public park in the evening.
I liked Denver very much, and should
like to live there, as it is an ideal city
and very healthy place. We left
Denver the next morning over the
Denver & Rio Grande railway aud
soon started to ascend the mountains.
We went due south 119 miles to
Pueblo, then took northwesterly
direction for Salt Lake City. We
kept on climbing the mountains until
we came to Tennessee Falls, at which
point we were 10,481 feet above sea
level, which is nearly two miles up in
the air. We had two big engines on
the train sometimes, and only seven
coaches. Went through canyons that
were SO high that we could not see the
top of them from our place, and the
sides were solid walls of rock. I got
tired of mountains, as saw nothing
but mountains for two days. Came
to Salt Lake City Tuesday at p. M,
and stayed there about three hours.
Saw the Mormon temple. 1t was not
as grand as had imagined, though
it was quite an imposing structure.
We did not go to the lake, as that is
now about 18 miles from town, but we
caught 3 glimpse of it on the way, to
Ogden, where we arrived at six the
same evening. Ogden is q nicer place
than Salt Lake City. At three the
next morning we were speeding on
ward to Portland on the Ogden Short
Line. Had Q tough time of it in
Idaho on Wednesday,, as there was
nothing but desert and the sand was
blowing about SO that we could hardly
breathe. The thermometer registered
about 108 in the shade. It would
have been q good place for frying
blind pigs would not live in that
country If I got the whole state Of
Idaho as { present on condition
that I should stay there. I think I
would prefer the state prison at Still
water. The sand drifts were as high
- i r