Pete Dykstra immigrated to the United States on 6/25/1888 from Marrum, Ferwerderadeel, The Netherlands.  He went to Grand Rapids where his sister Luurtske (Lucille) had moved to in 1880.  He paid for his sister Ytje (Ida) to immigrate in 1890.  Pete must have been an adventurer and very ambitious and at heart a dairy farmer.  I suspect by that time most of the good farmland in northern Michigan was gone so it must have been very appealing to hear about Washington and its potential.  He moved there in the early 1890’s.  He moved to Oak Harbor on the north end of Whidbey Island.  Early Washington developed about the islands in Puget Sound because the main mode of transportation was by water.  Living on Whidbey Island he had a dairy farm and spent time in Alaska during the Gold Rush.  After the cows were no longer good for milking or h e could just make more money shipping them to Alaska, he herded them into the water where they were put on ships and shipped to Alaska for either milking or meat.

I know that Minne (Harry) de Jong>DeYoung went to work for the Carnation Can Company in 1900, so Pete must have sold the Shidbey Island farm by then and moved to Kent where he bought a large dairy farm.

Pete must have also met Hielktje (Nellie) Starkenberg about this time.  They were married in 1905 and had 5 children:  Henry, Elmer, Harold, Harriet and Ida.