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.

Morling House.
Owned by Knut H. Opdal,
the first Scandinavian Hotel in the Skagit Valley.
[View Larger Image Here.]

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.