Scandinavians on the Pacific, Puget Sound

Transcriber's Note: To enhance the audio listener's enjoyment, captions have been added to some illustrations. The spelling has been harmonized. Obvious printer errors have been repaired.
The cover image has been fabricated and is placed in the public domain.



To My Scandinavian Friends, Now Residents of the Puget Sound Country:
Ten years have now elapsed since the Scandinavians on the Pacific was published, and inasmuch as I now have the opportunity of inserting a few pages, outlining in brief some of the changes that are manifest since the publication of the book, I deem it proper to do so.
Scandinavians on the Pacific was my first literary effort. Some of the verses contained in the book were written in a hasty manner, hence found it advisable to rewrite them, coining them into better and more uniform metre, and later they appeared in my book of poems, Echoes from Dreamland, which may be found in the Seattle Public Library, in the library of the University of Washington, and in the libraries of Eastern universities and colleges.
The opportunity of outlining the interesting changes that have taken place in that period, and being enabled to make the addition a part of the original book, comes to me by the generous suggestion of Mr. F. P. Searle, Manager of the Ballard Office of The Scandinavian American Bank, Ballard Station, Seattle, Washington, as it is Mr. Searle's intention to present the book to all of his Scandinavian customers and friends.
In the year 1899, while completing the history contained in the original part of this book, I could not have conceived of the wonderful changes that have been made throughout the whole Northwest, and more particularly in the City of Seattle. During the time I was writing the book, one of my very pleasant headquarters was The Scandinavian American Bank, then located at the corner of First Avenue and Yesler Way, in the building that is now occupied by the State Bank of Seattle, and it is a source of a great deal of satisfaction to me, that with a few exceptions, all the officers and employees of The Scandinavian American Bank are still with the grand institution, which has developed from a very modest bank of that date, into one of the largest and most successful banking institutions in the State of Washington.