There's a friendly and growing company in the largest alpine valley in America, inside the beautiful Sierra Valley of California, that offers American-made products that embody the pioneer spirit when America was discovered and settled.

At www.SierraValleyTrading.com you can find products consumers like to use, make living easier and more enjoyable, and are made in the United States.

For Sierra Valley, making a decision on what kind of products they might offer to the Buy American conscious consumer was an easy one. At Sierra Valley Trading Company, they make the kind of products they like to use, and ones that make living easier and more enjoyable.

So what might you find among the nearly 200 American-made products available at www.SierraValleyTrading.com? You'll find houseware products like cast iron cookware from Lodge Logic, colanders, cutting and carving boards, deep fry baskets, Dutch ovens, flour sifters, graters, and rolling pins. Sierra's cutlery collection includes 20 different knives, machetes, and spatulas with old hickory handles.

All American Leather goods feature aprons, backpacks, briefcases, coin purses, key cases, shaving kits, log carriers, tool rolls, wallets, and money clips. Even their sleigh bells and dog leashes and are made from domestic leather.

And even though Sierra Valley Trading Company is motivated to make the quality of country living easier, you'll find most of the outdoor products you might need fulfill this purpose whether you live in Anchorage, Alaska or New York City. Certainly part of their commitment to quality is realizing that there is a distinct difference between American-made goods and cheap imports. But this doesn't mean Sierra Valley Trading products are prohibitively expensive. In fact they're not expensive at all especially when you calculate the quality of the product within.

Sierra Valley only offers products from American companies that proudly display the "Made in USA" label on their products. That means you won't be browsing products that have some watered-down version of American made like "assembled in USA of foreign and domestic parts."

The solid and true quality of American craftsmanship really shines through on Sierra Valley's various wood products like their solid cherry ceiling pot rack, Adirondack log rack, cedar baskets and cookware stands.

More of what makes quality living possible regardless of where you live in our great country depends on actually being able to make a living. Sierra Valley is definitely doing their part by offering American-made products that keep America working, living and prospering.

With all the talk of Barack Obama following the path of Abraham Lincoln on his way to the inauguration and the president-elect's emphasis on our 16th president, it's worth recalling some of Abraham Lincoln's words that in turn emphasize part of what the Sierra Valley Trading Company is all about. Concerning the tariff question, Lincoln once said, "When we buy a ton of steel rails from abroad we get the rails and the foreigner gets the money, but when we buy the steel rails at home, we get both the rails and the money."

The closer our country comes to the common sense of Abraham Lincoln, which is the same kind of thinking the folks at Sierra Valley Trading Company (www.SierraValleyTrading.com) subscribe to, the better off our country will be and the more prosperous American companies that make things in American will be as well.

Roger Simmermaker is the author of How Americans Can Buy American: The Power of Consumer Patriotism. He also writes "Buy American Mention of the Week" articles for his website www.howtobuyamerican.com and is a member of the Machinists Union and National Writers Union. Roger has been a frequent guest on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, has been quoted in the USA Today, Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report among many other publications, and is now a weekly contributor to WorldNetDaily.

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