Watch for the survey marker here. There is another one on the west side of the gravel road. I believe these are the markers from 1916. Most land titles for the area indicate that was when the land parcel was surveyed.
The next story is about a man who lived farther north along the Lesser Slave River. He was not a farmer, but he was inventive in getting his own way. William Burns was a wood cutter who had spent a bit of time boxing. Around 1911 he took up a homestead around Soto Landing (See SG039).
Being a man who liked his drink he had a few problems with the restriction of liquor into the area. This encouraged the battle of wits he had with the local constable. Just to stir things up a bit, he and his buddies got some traps and wired them to the roots of a stump. After knocking the bottom out of a barrel , they set it over the traps and nailed it to the stump. As an added flourish a couple of gin bottles were strategically placed nearby. Last but not least the Mountie received an anonymous letter telling of a still that Bill had.
Bill and his buddies were fishing quietly when the Mountie arrived to investigate. He tromped up the well worn path and they could hear some shuffling going on. All of the sudden they heard a snap, followed by yelling, cursing and cries for help - not necessarily in that order. It took a bit of time for the fisherman to make their way to rescue the Mountie. They were of course mystified as how the Mountie could have gotten himself into this predicament.
In another matter, Bill wanted to establish an area that he alone would trap. He had regular visits from the Aboriginals and thought of a way to discourage them from trapping in what he now considered his area. One day three canoes pulled up to his homestead. When they all sat down to visit he told them of the Spirit in the River and how it was lifting the water seven or eight feet in the air.
They probably thought cabin fever had truly set in. Bill lit the fuse to his carefully placed dymanite. The resulting explosion upset two of their canoes and the third drifted downstream. Whether it was because of they thought there was a Spirit in the water or that Bill had totally lost his mind Bill succedded in getting his trap line to himself.