In 1937, Fawcett Lake was home to a Métis Settlement, according to Mabel Harrison in the Echoes Along the Athabasca River. When they arrived to homestead the area, Jim Auger, who lived there, rowed them across the lake to see what homesteading land was available. It is possible that the settlement was land owned by the Adams family, however, she provided a good account of life at that time.
Every Métis family had a dog team as the only way in or out was by wagon or sleigh. In the spring the Métis would row out to hunt ducks nests. They would gather the eggs to take home and eat. In the spring the women would be tanning the moose and deer hides from the winter hunting. Bannock was their bread and in the summer months they would make dry meat. In the fall they gathered rat root for colds and sore throat. None had a garden.
There would be dances a couple of times a week in the summer where some of the men showed amazing talent playing the guitar and violin. They also played ball in the evenings and there was always swimming, fishing and hunting.
Life was harder then but in some ways it sounds idyllic. It is a part of Alberta’s history that will never return.