Albert Faille was born in 1888 and was raised by foster parents on a farm in New Salem, Pennsylvania. He never knew his real parents and at the age of 8, left the care of his foster parents and ended up in Tower, Minnesota where he was looked after by a hobo who taught him how to trap. Faille spent his youth employed in lumber camps, as a tourist guide on canoe trips and trapping. During World War I, he went to France with the United States Forestry Engineers. Upon his return in 1918, he married Marion Carlson and moved to Winton, Minnesota where he continued to trap, guide and cut timber for the St. Croix Lumber Mill. Marion gave birth to a baby boy named Harry but when the lumber mill closed Albert Faille and his partner Fred Mayo left Minnesota and moved to the Northwest Territories where they spent the winter trapping on the Beaver River. Faille sent for his wife and son during this time, however, she refused to move to the north. He spent almost 50 years as a trapper and prospector in the Fort Simpson - Nahanni Butte area. He was known as an excellent woodsman and for his navigation of fast flowing mountain streams. In the winter he trapped fur-bearing animals in order to pay for his supplies and equipment. In his later years and after a back injury prevented him from travelling on the Nahanni in his search for gold, Albert Faille, worked for Dr. Truesdell, the Indian Agent in Fort Simpson, as his boat engineer and handyman. After the doctor retired, Albert took odd jobs as a river guide, store clerk, caretaker and weekend jailer, however, once his back was healed he began to travel the waters of the Nahanni again. In 1961, the National Film Board produced a film documenting Faille's repeated attempts to find gold in the upper reaches of the Nahanni. There was no script, the crew merely filmed what took place during the eight week trip. Albert took his boat through heavy six foot waves at Figure Eight Rapids and carried his gear including a 70 lb. motor around Virginia Falls. The eighteen minute short film won numerous awards and brought the Nahanni Region into the spotlight. Albert Faille died on December 31, 1973.
Tom and Elizabeth McCallum (nee McCoubrey) operated the Yellowknife Lumber Company Ltd. sawmill, located near Fort Resolution, during the late 1930s and 1940s.
Robert "Bobby" Porritt (1905-1984) was born in Leeds, England. He came to Canada with his family in 1912, and they moved to a homestead farm near Jarvie, Alberta in 1915. He moved to the Northwest Territories circa 1927, spending a couple of years as a carpenter on projects in Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution. He remained in Fort Resolution working as the first Canadian Airways agent [1927?]. During his years in Fort Resolution, he also worked as postmaster [1930?] and spent seven years in the fur trade with Northern Traders. In 1938, he started the Fort Resolution Lumber Company, which supplied lumber around the lake, particularly for Yellowknife buildings such as the Old Stope Hotel. Porritt spent some time in Yellowknife, coordinating lumber orders, and claims to have built the first Yellowknife school in 1939. The lumber business led to a water freight business, Robert Porritt Transportation, which appears to have been based in Yellowknife [1944-1949?]. In 1949, Porritt moved to Hay River and set up a general store, a fur trading business and an insurance agency. He established the short-lived Great Slave Industries in 1969, planning to build a marina in Hay River, and was involved in the revival of the sawmill in Fort Resolution during the same year. He continued to trade furs until his death.
Active politically for many years, Porritt ran for the Yellowknife Town Council in 1945. He lost his first bid for the Northwest Territories Legislative Council in 1951, but was successful in 1954, 1957 and 1964, spending almost ten years on the NWT Council (1954-1960, 1964-1967). He also lost bids for election to the NWT Council in 1960, 1967 and 1970. As a member of the Council, he was particularly interested in issues such as transportation, Indigenous welfare, health care, fisheries, trapping, education, the postal service, and the Hay River economy. He was also active in local politics and local organizations. He was appointed to the Hay River Board of Trustees in 1950, and spent at least seven years on the Board of Trustees, municipal and town councils for Hay River. He was president of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Lands and Parks Committee, and a member of the local Health Board, the Hospital Committee, the Public Works Committee, and the Kiwanis Club. Bobby Porritt died in 1984.