SCANDINAVIANS IN BALLARD.
[CHAPTER V.]

Ballard merits the appellation, City of Smokestacks. No small town west of the Rocky has more factories. Saw mills and shingle mills are sending clouds of smoke into the air day and night, and brigades of industrious men are busily engaged. The city has been regarded by many as a suburb of Seattle, but this is a misinterpretation. True, Ballard is near Seattle, and is connected to it by a well-equipped street railway, but has its own government.

The first Scandinavian who touched Salmon Bay, half a mile below Ballard, was probably Peter Friberg. In 1875 Gustaf Anderson pitched his tent on a green spot near the rippling water where he yet resides. He was born in Sweden, crossed the Atlantic in 1864, and spent several years in Chicago before coming to the Pacific. He is a man of intelligence and holds a respectable rank among the people. Ole Schildstad, a native of Norway, and highly respected, arrived simultaneously.

In those early days Ballard was undreamt. The smoke which now curls above its bustle did not enter the calm of the pioneers' hearts. They were contented with the peregrination of daily necessity. Few Scandinavians then stalked the dense forest which clad the turf where five thousand people now dwell midst noise and progress, but today over one thousand Vikings mingle in the various walks of life in the town.

John Johnson.
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John Johnson, the leading merchant and an intelligent and honored citizen, is a native of Norway, being born March 26, 1862, midway between Trondhjem and Levanger, where he received his early education. At the age of ten he emigrated to America, locating at Muskegon, Michigan, attended the public schools three years, worked in a saw mill four years, and clerked in a grocery store seven years. In 1886 he launched into business for himself which he is pursuing with marked success. During the same year he was married at Muskegon to a cultured young lady, Miss Magna Nelson, whose parents hail from Tromso, Norway. In 1893 Mr. Johnson moved to Ballard and immediately embarked in grocery business. His large establishment and business method plainly reflect his ability, and a multitudinous circle of friends bespeaks his generosity and integrity of character.