It was in 1903 that Matt Shumaker with his wife and seven children moved into a homestead on Prairie River. Most of his life Matt spent in logging, but he did raise some potatoes and had a few dairy cattle. The following year Matt's brother-in-law, Thomas Kannas, rode the Powers and Simpson logging railroad to Crooked Lake in search of a homestead. A 160-acre tract that John Wolfetter had lived on, but was not satisfied with, attracted Kannas. Kannas and Wolfetter walked down to Grand Rapids where Kannas paid $100 for improvements on the land. Wolfetter relinquished his claim and Kannas filed on it. Within a year or two Kannas' brother Henry came up. They boated from Crooked Lake up the Prairie River to their homestead. Kannas' brother John came a few years later and bought the John Pelto homestead. Still later Kannas' sister, Mrs. Erkkila, came up with her family and settled on the Isaac Isaacson homestead. After working several years as a cook for Powers, Andrew Tanberg built his home on Lower Balsam Lake in 1904. He with his wife and seven children soon had a good farm going. Charles V. Smith with his wife Nellie and six children came by covered wagon to Arrowhead Point on Wabana Lake in the spring of 1903. He worked for Lounsberry and Simons two years and then in 1905 moved up to the old Cap Hasty Ranch in Balsam. Although Mrs. Smith did see Andy Tanberg on his way home with provisions from Grand Rapids 2nd perhaps a few other men working in the woods, she saw no other woman from November until August. The Tanbergs, their nearest neighbors, were only four or five miles away. In 1907 the Smiths built their famous three-story log house on a hill overlooking Balsam Brook. The home was 38 x 34 feet with a 16 x 18 foot kitchen added at the rear. It became a famous stopping place. One night a total of 84 men slept here on their way to logging camps. It later became a famous hunting lodge. Just recently, in the winter of 1957-58, the structure was destroyed by fire.