Utah Territory, January 21, 1874
Dearly Beloved Cousin:
"I feel like writing a few lines to you and your family inasmuch as it is too distant for me to visit you, and it is about nineteen years since I was in Denmark. I was at that time a boy, and .am now thirty-eight years old. I and the family are in good health; I have never been sick since I set out from Svinne. I married a girl from Sweden when I was twenty-three years old. We have two daughters and three sons living and two sons and two daughters who are dead. The eldest daughter is thirteen years old and the youngest, a son, four months.
"I am very well satisfied; and I feel that I have been blessed by the Lord in the forsaking of my fatherland and in the seeking of a home among His servants and children in the land of America; . . . a goodly land in which to dwell as well for the poor as for the rich, inasmuch as there is much land here not yet brought under cultivation. . . .
"When first I came to Utah, I worked as a carpenter and as . timber man for about three years; after which I went to a new place called Mount Pleasant, where I got me a piece of land measured up, built a home and developed a farm, from which I am now enjoying the fruits. At the present time I own two mules, (they are a kind of strong draught animal of great endurance), two horses, a filly, sixteen cows and thirty calves and yearlings, and some sheep, swine, etc. Inasmuch as there is a dearth here of labor help, there is a consequent high day wage, . . . from .'two to four bushels of wheat per day, or the equivalent thereof:
I have therefore provided myself with various kinds of machinery:
……a machine for mowing, it is drawn by two mules or horses;
a rake with which to rake hay or to glean stubble and which is drawn by one horse.
I have also a reaping machine which mows and rakes into windrows ready for binding; a boy of twelve or thirteen years can sit upon a spring seat and drive the horses for this machine. I have also a part in a threshing machine owned together with my brothers, which is driven by eight horses; it threshes and winnows at the same time. It stands upon two carts: we can therefore, in a short time, move it from one place to another. My wife has three machines, one for weaving, one for sewing, and one for knitting. These are very handy for accomplishing work. I also own part in a saw mill driven by steam. . . . it can saw from twelve to fourteen thousand feet of lumber per twenty-four hours. I am also part owner in a mercantile store containing wares to the value of 20,000 riks dollars. I am at the present time foreman at this mercantile and am right now busy at sending barley to the railroad, which shall bring it to the seacoast, and thence to England. Barley and other grains are very cheap here. I suppose that in Denmark it is quite the opposite.
"I shall now give you some information in brief about the Territory; its situation; its fertility. Territory is the same as Amt' - or county (rather as province). But the people here have more liberty than they had in Denmark. Each Amt chooses certain men that meet together, once a year, to enact laws for the welfare of the people. Utah Territory lies 3000 miles inland from the Eastern seacoast, and 1000 miles from the Western seacoast, or California. When we made our journey here, we came by railroad from New York to Florence, Nebraska, 2000 miles; thence we traveled by ox-drawn wagons to Utah, 1000 miles over a desolate and uninhabited desert.
"At that time, all our merchandise had to be freighted over' this desert, and consequently goods were very costly in contra., to the present cheap prices; as the railroad crosses right through the country to California, with a spur northward and one southward, and it has been decided to extend it throughout this Territory.
"Salt Lake City is the capital. It derives its name from the salt lake situated a little way from the town. The water in it is so salty that from the edge of the lake one can fetch salt just as we would fetch sand in Denmark. In the proximity of the town, there is a hot spring. . . there are really several; the water comes hot out of the mountain. A bath house has been built there and the omnibus runs there with people several times a day. There are also similar springs near here.
"Here in Utah, the mountains are so high that snow may be found lying on them from one year to another although it is warmer here than it is in Denmark. On some parts of these mountains there are forests, while in some places in them there is coal, iron, lead, copper, gold and silver. In these various places there are several thousands of people laboring to bring forth these various materials and to purify them. . . .
"Most of the land under cultivation is very fertile, but there is seldom enough rain here in the summer time to bring the grain to perfection; we have therefore so arranged it that we can bring about the streams that flow from the mountains to water it. I guess that will astonish you, but it is very practicable, and the soil yields in general, from forty to sixty bushels of wheat, oats, and barley.
"It was because of our belief in the Lord and His holy scriptures that we left our native land. I will now close my writings and hope this letter will find you with lots of health and happiness.
"Mother and my brothers and sisters are well and prospering. To you and your family we send our most affectionate greetings and ask you to remember us to our relatives, and friends, too, if there are any yet living.
"Yours affectionately,
(Signed) "ANDREW MADSEN.
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