Lack du Bois Homesteading
In the early 1900’s the Provincial and Dominion governments encouraged people to settle throughout the country. They offered people 160 acres (a quarter section) of free land. The Lac du Bois area was under Dominion jurisdiction so even though there were ranchers who had cattle grazing leases on the land, the settlers could still file on a quarter section despite the ranchers complaints. People came from all over the world. There were homesteaders from Scotland, Ireland, England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, China and the US.
In order for the homesteader to claim the land he had to fulfill certain requirements in a limited amount of time. Firstly, from the date of application and payment of ten dollars, he had six months to build a suitable house. He had to live in the house at least half a year for each of the first three years. To receive title to the land he must have at least 30 acres cultivated and at least 20 acres in crop. Certain other requirements such as numbers of livestock, buildings for livestock and fencing for livestock could be substituted for the cultivation requirements. If all the requirements were met, and an application for ownership was made within five years from the date of original application, the homesteader could be granted title to the property. If the homesteader went to war and returned, he would be granted a Soldiers Grant consisting of an additional quarter section. He would also be qualified for a loan to buy farm equipment.
Homesteading in the Lac du Bois area started in the late 1800’s but peaked in 1913 when about thirty-five families made up the population of about 150. Areas settled were mostly around Lac du Bois, McQueen Lake, Wheeler Mountain and east of Long Lake. There were mainly two communities that developed, the Lac du Bois community and the Wheeler Flats community.
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