Collection F2040 - Anne V. Byers collection

The original house ("Camp Iroquois") was built in 1875 by James Wallace for himself and his wife, Annie Brough. In the beginning it was a simple dwelling, with a widow's walk and an outdoor stairway leading up to it. The house was subsequently purchased by David Wallace who, in the latter part of the 19th century, added two septagonal towers, plus stain glass windows, in order to make the house more elegant. A windmill pumped water to the house, but plumbing and electricity were non-existant. He also constructed a boat house with a large half-moon window in the front, and an iron frame, complete with wheels, for lifting boats out of the water.

Following the death of David Wallace in 1904, the house passed into the hands of his four nieces, Belle, Edith, Annie, and Jennie Wallace. The sisters travelled each season from Boston to "Camp Iroquois" via Clayton, New York, and then the ferry to Gananoque, Ontario. They would arrive, by skiff, on Bostwisk Island in early May, and not return to Boston until the first snowfall.

As their were no heirs, the Wallace sisters, who had close ties of friendship with the Byers family arranged for the transfer of the house and property to Donald N. Byers. "Camp Iroquois" has been in the Byers family ever since.