This is the compelling biography of Richard O. Roesiger, a young German emigrant from Ortrand (in the former Province of Saxony, today in Brandenburg) who came to America in 1882 and  homesteaded on land around a lake in Snohomish County, northeast of Seattle, Washington. In the late 19^th century, that isolated rural area was one of the last frontiers in America and Roesiger experienced the strenuous life of a pioneer as he strove to secure his place in the world. The story of his life emerges in great detail because of his diligence in keeping personal diaries for 30 long years of living an isolated life around the lake that today bears his name, Lake Roesiger.

This biography paints a rich image of a fearless explorer, adventurer and settler in Washington's "Wild West".We learn about his perseverance in that hostile wilderness, with its severe climate, and we can admire his character when he describes the pain and anguish he suffered.