| History Lac La Biche Lake, formerly the Lake of the Red Deer, has a proud history. In the late 1700s and through out the 1800s the lake was the primary highway north and west. Connecting with the Lac La Biche river allowed the fur traders and voyageurs to reach areas such as Rocky Mountain House, Fort Vermilion, the Peace River area, Fort Chipweyan and even Fond du Lac, Saskatchewan. David Thompson, Peter Fidler, Alexander Henry were among the early travelers in this area. The very spot where you are standing now, is the ancient route used by these great voyageurs. Here fur traders were well established. The journals of Alexander Henry Thompson describe meeting the Antoine Decharlais family here as early as 1812. And, Marcel Giraud, who wrote about the lives of the Métis in Western Canada described Antoine as "a true example of the simple and happy life, satisfied, like that of primitive man, with resources offered by a nature that seemed inexhaustible; the ana chronistic image … transmitted to the Métis descendants of these former maestros of the west" (Giraud 1986a: 269.) At that time, the river lots were unusual or irregular in size and shape so that all people had access to travel and water resources. The owners of these lots were given patent or were granted the rights to these lots by the Government (The current rectangular plan of townships was eventually surveyed around the original ones.) 1895 surveyed map Some of the earliest settlers of this area include Cardinal, Ladouceur, Villeneuve, and Fosseneuve (also known as, Captain Shot). The first settler on this particular piece of land (Lac La Biche Settlement lot 20) was Gilbert Comtois. Lacking descendents, the Comtois family line died out and the lot was sold to Tomkins. We suspect Tomkins was a land speculator since there is no history related to that family name in this area. The lot passed to Louis Joseph Ladouceur, the son of Augustine Ladouceur. Alexander Henry's journals dated from 1799-1810 document the Ladouceur family in the Lac La Biche area as being very active in fur trading and having trading posts along the shores of the lake. For example, Louis' grandfather had a trading post on Lac La Biche Settlement lot 3 (now Plamondon Bay) and Augustine owned a trading post on lot 7. Lac La Biche Settlement lot 20 was transferred to Gilda Ladouceur (a sister) upon the death of Louis Joseph. Gilda and her sister, Emerance, locally known as "the Gold Dust Twins," inherited all the properties and assets of their father and other family members. Lot 20 was purchased by Abel Holdings. With Mrs. Abel's passing the land sat idle for a number of years. A few years ago lot 20 was purchased by Linda Burnett, a descendant of the Ladouceur family. Her husband and his brother and her sister-in-law accompanied Linda. Historically this lot is one of the original surveyed lots which still has evidence of the mound and pit way of designating the property line. Aukje Kapteyn, the present owner, has a dream to build a retreat house. Lot 20 is a very fitting use for this land. With such a rich and flavourful history the building of a tranquil retreat house, which is greatly needed in our area, is a fitting use for this site. Written by Millie Lansing, descendent of the Ladouceurs, and local historian. Back to the top |
| 1895 Survey Map |
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