Eleven ALS and one postcard, signed, written by DeWitt Ayres to "Minna" and other unidentified family members at Penn Yan, New York, while Ayres was travelling to Hoquiam, Washington. Ayres, accompanied by "Uncle Joe," went to Hoquiam to settle the estate of "Uncle Sidney," who owned a ranch on the Hoquiam River. In five letters written from Washington, Ayres describes researching Grays Harbor County records of Uncle Sidney's government land grants, dated 1869; visiting the land site; and his plans to sell timber found on the site. He also discusses timber, the lumber business, and sawmills in Hoquiam; his impressions of Seattle, Hoquiam, and other cities in the Pacific Northwest; and brief impressions of American Indians and Chinese and Japanese immigrants. Other letters describe travel through the Canadian Rockies on the Canadian Pacific Railway, scenery, and visiting with family members in Chicago.
