Dear Niece,
Just received your newsy letter yesterday, and as I was just going to send you a card for XMAS, will write you now.
Was awful sorry to hear of Annie Woods death. Of coarse, after Dora was up there last year and she was so sick I really expected of her death before. She was a hard worker. She should have left the ranch after Dave, her husband, died. Clark sent us all a letter. It was sent to Dora Grace and me. We was glad to hear from him and I am glad the war is over. It always made me shudder when I heard of the boys losing their lives.
Well, you want to know when we came to Lopez Island. We left Iowa about the first of March 1877. There was quite a lot of us came all at once. Uncle William Humphrey and aunt Annie came out to Lopez about a year before the rest of us came out. They told us what a fine church there was out there and all the government land that was available. All you had to do was fix a homestead rite on it for 160 acres, and one could catch all the fish you wanted out of the salt water and shoot a deer for your meat.
So we started from Estherville, Iowa. We was about 40 miles from the railroad station, so two of our neighbors loaded up their farm wagons with out trunks, clothing and bedding, and we had a large lunch trunks with enough of things to eat till we got to San Francisco. We drove all that day and got into Windom, a town in Dacota. Then we took the Emigrant train. We had a cook stove on the train and we cook our coffee and whatever things we had to cook. Then we had our own blankets and at night we made our own beds down in the seats we set in the daytime. The train did not go very fats them days. Sometimes when the train was going up hill, some of the men would get out and run along side the train while they were going up grade. After several days we arrived in San Francisco. On the way out to San Francisco there was nothing much to see except Indians and once in awhile a small town of white people. Omaha and Salt Lake was the two largest towns then.
Them days the only railroad to the west coast was the Union Pacific, and that was only to San Francisco. After we got there we had to wait 3 days for a boat to Puget Sound. Then when we got to Frisco, we found out, out boat was the old side wheeler boat with a beam engine, the same as they have on the ferry in Frisco Bay. After about 5 days we arrived at Victoria, and it happened to be Sunday so we stayed there all day Sunday, and Monday we came over to Port Townsend.
There we met Uncle William Humphrey with a two masted schooner. We moved aboard the schooner that afternoon and stayed on the schooner that night. The next morning we started to sail to Lopez Island. It was a fine morning. We sailed all day and got in to Lopez about 6 PM. We all stayed there at Uncle William Humphreys for about 2 months. You see, there was quite a lot of us.
There was about 11 of us: Grandpa Graham and grandma (Thomas Graham and wife Janny) Tommy Graham Johny Graham Martin Philips and wife Ellie (mothers sister) William Graham and wife Mary Norman Hodgson and brother Pearson (me)[author of this letter]
The only road there was on the way through the center of the Island, around Fisherman Bay and up past John Bartletts place, then down to Charley Anderson.
I was about 12 years old then. We had a Fourth of July celebration at Lopez. There used to be a nice Maple grove where Dr Muscot used to live, and there was a large crowd there that day--but as near as I can figure out, I am about the only one alive now. I was 80 my last birthday, the 26 of November. Well I think that is about all of the history I can give you now. If there is anything else you want to know I will gladly give it.
I am getting ready to take a trip with Frank and Perl to go hunting down to Mexico. There is lots of Geese and ducks down there. We go by auto down there. They have a camp there and a speed boat. It is driven by an airplane engine with the propeller in the air instead of the water. She makes about 20 miles an hour. When I get back I will let you know how I enjoyed the trip. I have been sticking pretty close to the ranch since I came out here with Dora. Dora's sister Jenny & her daughter was down here from Alaska for about 10 days. they went back to Wyreka to stay. He is going to work in the Logging camp there.
Well I think that is about all I can think of now.
Your Uncle Pearson.
P.S. I forgot to tell you the Northern Pacific Railroad did not get in to Seattle for about 2 years after we got there. Everything came to Seattle by boat or Prairie Schooner. The only boat we had carrying mail and passenger was the --- Enterprise. Just a little steamer with no sleeping accommodations.
Just a small cabin and one stove on Lopez and we had a canoe that we used to go to Friday Harbor in. If there is anything besides what I have mentioned here, let me know and if I remember about it I will let you know.
Good by
Pearson
[TYPIST NOTE: Pearson Hodgson was born Nov 26, 1865 in Shelburne, Dufferin Co, Ontario and died in California. He married to Gertrude Alice Ridley, and had a son Frank William]