Dear Mama,
The mountains here are so beautiful.
Especially one they call Mt. Tacoma.
I owe my Mama a letter back at Boston.
I miss the soft leather shoes, petites fours at
the parties, how can I tell her about here
without making her worry.
The rain keeps fallin’ in this desolate, frightening country.
Lettuce barely grown, corn not yet knee high and
it’s August. Peas and squash have blossomed
and died without producin’.
What will we do this winter- live on potatoes which grow
anytime anyplace even in this unrelenting rain?
I don’t have the money to buy flour unless Henry sells
the beaver pelts at a better price than last year
and I’m pregnant with my third child.
Henry is a hard-workin’, good man,
and treats me well. He does love me.
That should be enough.
Fort Nisqually, built in 1833, was a trading post and first European settlement on Puget Sound.