Today the story of the White Otter Castle and the man who built it. YouTube influencer Jay Siemens was on a trip with John Hoyer and a few other fellas in search of big lake trout. 

I had never heard of the White Otter Castle but Jay's visit intrigued me. I wanted to know more. Who built it and how did it get there? It's an amazing story but tragic for the loner who built what people call a Castle on the shore of White Otter Lake. James Alexander "Jimmy" McQuat better known as Jimmy grew up farming but left that somewhat lucrative life behind. He made the Trek via canoe to the spot on White otter lake he would call home. As a boy he was told ye'll never do no good. Ye'll die in a shack and that's the reason he built his log Castle. Jimmy was a loner but longed for love and had his chance but for some reason backed out. He didn't drink, smoke or cuss and He single-handedly felled trees, cut, hewn and placed the logs one by one all by himself. It was a massive home that looked more like a barn with a turret that stood 40 ft tall on property he truly never owned. He trapped his food but would go to a town called Ignace for supplies. A trip mostly by canoe. a full day there and a full day back. He would walk 12 miles to spend Christmas with friends but in 1918 he never showed. In the spring they found his body on shore, a button caught in his fishnet. His castle is now his headstone.

⏯The White Otter Castle