Frank A. Peterson is likewise a man cut out for frontier life where energy and strong arms are required. He is a native of Sweden, but came to South Dakota in his early days, stayed there for some years, and in 1886 landed in Seattle, and two years later joined his countrymen at Cedarhome. He has been awake to the interest of the public schools and the welfare of the community in general; for years he has been a member of the school board. His brother John is also a good citizen. John Ek, too, belongs to the category of frontier soldiers who delight in converting the forest into fields of gold and smiling gardens. He was born in Sweden and came to Cedarhome, 1890. Round the village live a number of good citizens and industrious farmers; viz., Oluf Johnson, Sivert Wold, Rasmus Settre, K. K. Erdahl, N. O. Lindstrom, P. G. Johnson, Olof Anderson, Levi Levison, Ole Johnson, Robert Johnson, P. L. Anderson, Ole Husby, Erik Johnson, P. M. Arentzen, C. P. Hemmingsen, A. Evenson, B. Evenson, and others. Aaron Larson, a native of Sweden, who resides on a pleasant ranch about three miles east of Cedarhome, is a highly accomplished musician. His daughter Cora is likewise displaying extraordinary talents for divine strains. [Illustration: WESTERN WASHINGTON NATIVE SNOWSHOE HARE.] SCANDINAVIANS IN SKAGIT VALLEY. CHAPTER XII. Sweetest and loveliest of flowery vales, Where plenty teems and joy hails, Where waving fields of golden grain Merrily smile in sun and rain. The Skagit valley is a stretch of inexhaustible fertility, commencing at the mouth of the river and running northward for scores of miles, and spreads out, east and west, into a plain beautifully embellished with proud farms, and mostly populated with Scandinavians. Six miles up the river rests the town of Fir, a bustling village, surrounded by a rich farming community. Ole J. Borseth is the leading business man of the town, who located here, 1883, and in 1891 engaged in general merchandise. He is a native of Norway, where he was bred and educated. [Illustration: MORLING HOUSE. Owned by Knut H. Opdal, the first Scandinavian Hotel in the Skagit Valley.] Knut H. Opdal, also born in Norway, arrived in 1888, and shortly afterward embarked in hotel business. He and his wife are representatives of Norse simplicity and integrity, imbued with love for their native country, and patriotic and loyal to the stars and stripes. [Illustration: J. F. ANDERSON.]