Stanwood is the largest Scandinavian community in the State of Washington, situated in Snohomish county, on a delta-like angle, where the Skagit and the Stillaguamish rivers meet to mingle their blue volumes. A navigable tongue of the Sound ripples up the flat, where daily steamers gracefully ride for the proud city. To the east and west from this thriving villa a panorama of inexhaustible fertility spreads out before your eye, dotted with quaint dwellings, here and there flecked with rich orchards, and slowly sweeps up forming what is generally termed highland, where a Swedish colony smiles with flowery gardens and beautiful farms.
Stanwood compares in magnitude and importance with the eastern Scandinavian settlements, but differs vastly from them in spirit. Here is more life, more freedom, and English the prevailing language, especially among the younger folks.
In 1870, the time that Eller Graham, a native of Norway, disembarked at the mouth of Skagit river, a white man was a curiosity. Doubtless Graham was the first Scandinavian to seek the wilderness for a nestling place, though it is probable that Martin Toftezen, who landed on Whidbey Island twelve years prior, had made a reconnoissance of both Skagit and Stillaguamish rivers.
Sivert Guligson Brekhus threw anchor where the Stillaguamish disembogues its waters, 1873, but made his permanent habitation ten miles up the river. Two years later O. B. Iverson made his appearance as government surveyor, and almost simultaneously N. P. Leque, Nils Eide and A. Danielson landed in fair-sized canoes. These pioneers had the sagacity and foresight to unfold the future, and bought three hundred acres of land together. The first named, O. B. Iverson, was elected to represent Snohomish county in the territorial legislature, where his keen intellect made palpable impressions. He now resides in Olympia, and is an active member of the government surveying staff.
N. P. Leque is a highly respected citizen, a gentleman in the true sense of the word. He was born in Kinservik, Hardanger, Norway, May 8, 1848, but moved with his parents to Ulvik when two years old. After receiving a good common school education, he entered the normal school in Voss, where he graduated with honor in 1865. The following year he engaged in teaching, but abandoned it after two years of successful experience. The 11th of April, 1868, he was married to Miss Maria Lindebrekke, a lady of fine intellect and noble aims, and the same year sailed for America, settling at Vermillion, Clay county, South Dakota, where he embarked in farming. The smiling Pacific created a desire for another journey, and July 31, 1875, he paraded the streets of Tacoma, with his family. He made a perambulation of the country, and in 1876 located on a beautiful island, which bears his name.
