Dear Mary Rebecca,
Both of your letters came & were duly appreciated, even if I have neglected them. A change always means so many new demands on time and it is hard to get adjusted to new things too. I hadn't realized until your second letter came that I had not written you since my arrival. I wrote so many letters it didn't quite seem possible I had missed it.
I was very much fascinated by it all - and am still for that matter. I think that I will be content here or west for the rest of my days. People out here are so much broadder [sic] and bigger - they may not have the book learning but they certainly make up for it by living. The freedom from convention - the bigness of a new country needing to be tamed has made people bigger. I think you know that Idaho is a very new state and that there is still a great deal of land that has never been cultivated in fact the largest proportion of it is virgin soil. There is even a large percent open still to people who will live on it thus getting it for almost nothing. To you in your staid little city this may seem unreal because your land has been tilled so many years. However Idaho Falls, dates back not more than 50 years when only a few trappers lived on the river. The Snake River flows through here and it is a big treacherous stream draining to make River Valley - a valley second in size and fertility to the Nile so experts say. However it has been a desert a great long time and is even now merely a reclaimed (in part) desert. The land (uncultivated) has nothing but sage bush, and the soil is so loose and dry that the least breeze will create a very uncomfortable dust storm. The wind is scarcely noticeable but the dust comes like a fog. Needless to say that it is a very disagreeable feature. The farmers around here have made a lot of money this year - prices have been so high. I knew of one Jap who made between $3-4000 on his 40 acre potato crop. Another $1000 for 1 load of sugar beet seed. This by the way is the only place in the U.S. where people can buy beet seed. It is a government distributing station. They raise a great many beets and there is a large Sugar factory 2 miles out of town. They are talking of starting a paper mill to use the sage brush etc. So you see things are moving. People pay 8-10-12% on cash loans. I have $50 out at 6 months for 4%! Where else can you do that?
When I first came they were having a "Round-up" a yearly affair where people come from all over to see the bronco-busting and riding and other wild west features. There are two Indian Reservations not far from here and of course there were a lot of them. We are too civilized in Colorado to have Indians so they were about as much of a novelty to me as they would be to you. I gave the poor cow-boys with their shaps, [sic] Sombreros and spurs scant attention and actually "gawked" at the picturesque Indians with their beaded moccasins some of which were wound half way up the calves of their legs - and their blankets. Some day I'm going down to Blackfoot on Ration day and see them get their provisions - we have talked of it quite a lot but havn't [sic] done it. I imagine now we will have to wait until spring as it is very cold - yesterday 8° above and clear & crushing [?] with no snow!
Three weeks ago I was invited to Ashton, about 2 hours ride worth for the week-end. It was a much prettier country - hilly and the hills were covered with evergreens. Quite different from over vast expanse of nothingness around here. We were just 15 miles from Yellowstone Park and I have an invitation to go through with these same friends next summer. Won't that be great? I have planned a trip on my own hook but am not sure it will materialize. I want to get a Ford and go on into Oregon and then down home. Wish you could come & go along but as I say I'm not sure just what will happen so far ahead - just the same I wish you would plan to come - can't you?
How did the election suit you and your family? Of course the west was almost solid for Wilson and I don't blame them. I guess the east was almost as solid for Hughes. I am afraid it is going to be a hard winter for the poor people - prices soaring etc - but I don't believe a change of administration would have helped.
I have written as usual a whole letter without really answering anything in either of your letters. Just the same I am interested in everything you write about - your garden sounds so blissfully homey and I long for
itone too, but guess I'll have to enjoy hearing of yours. I certainly am glad that Gladys has gotten interested in school. I think she is well adapted for just such a course too and I hope she can finish. You all must certainly be busy - but it is usually the busy ones that do things and are happy.Love to all
Jean