The History of our Township

The first residents of the region were the Native Americans who followed the water courses for sources of food. Archaeological and natural history sites support this fact. Voyageurs later travelled the historic Rainy River engaged in fur trading.

Between 1875 and 1897 the three townships (Devlin, Woodyatt and Burriss) were surveyed and a few settlers took up residence along the Rainy River. About 1887 the area was thrown open to settlement under the Free Grants and Homestead Act.

Settlers by the hundreds, travelling by steamboat from Rat Portage and docking at Emo or Big Fork, arrived searching out the fertile farmlands. Logging was pursued in the seemingly endless forests.

These people of the past formed the areas as we know it today.

Images from the Last 100 Years