Gramps - Alfred Leland - and his wife, Harriet, bought 90-some acres on the eastern shore of Squirrel Lake on April 1, 1942 from Elizabeth Oberst, who inherited the property in July 1936 from the estate of Julia Nelson, widow of Oliver Nelson of Chicago. Nelson originally bought the property from Wisconsin Central Railroad on October 23, 1916. This was near the area in which Gramps' father, John, was a logging camp cook in the late 1880s. The original property included a main house built in 1918 ?), adjacent pumphouse/wood shed/garage, a gas house, and a three-slip boathouse on the water. The property passed to his three daughters: Bernice, Margot, and Jean, who each enjoyed a summer month at the lake with their families and friends canoeing, waterskiing, swimming, sailing and fishing - interspersed with conversations on the front porch lasting long into the evening, sharing hearty meals, and doing chores. 

When Bernice decided to sell her third, her sisters sold land on the south edge of the property next to Carter Road to Sprig Werling. The Werlings built a retirement home for themselves that they enjoyed for many years. When the house again came on the market, Jean and Ronnie decided to buy it, and made an offer to split the forested land with Margot and Oz. A deal was struck in 1985: the Griggs retained the original house and buildings and some of the forest, and the Mattisons settled "next door" (half a mile away) on the remaining land. That way cousins, aunts and uncles have remained in contact through the years, and the rich shared history remained, like the leaves underfoot and the ageless trees reaching overhead.

The fourth and fifth generations now walk these same paths, and the features of the lake and forest are a shared family language: the Flats, the Point, Spreck's Point, the channel, the Hidden Rock, the Leaning Pine, the Notch (in the treeline which marks the brush pile created forty years before for bass), the Three Sisters Tree, Henry the Heron's grave and Porcupine Hill. While the landmarks may change or disappear, the stories and the shared history add a resonance to each footstep. Through the years, this place has witnessed great joy and deep sorrow, crazy adventures and close calls, and once-in-a-lifetime moments. Nights are star-studded and spangled with northern lights, while days are vibrant, or leisurely - often peppered with surprises that come with life in the northern latitudes: weather! Even naps seem better: on the dock, in a boat, on a swing, in a hammock, chair, bed, couch, and every other imaginable place... Its that kind of spot.

For more photos, stories and poems about the lake, please visit  old Up North  or  Leland history web pages.