Peter L. Trout, Bighead River

Peter Trout lived at Trout Hollow in Bighead River near Meaford, Ontario. He worked at his family's sawmill and rake factory, which was owned by his older brother William Trout and Charles Jay. Peter and William were hosts to John Muir and his brother Daniel from 1864 to 1866, as the Muir brothers were looking for employment. Peter wrote about his experiences with, and his relationship to, John and Daniel Muir in his memoir. A fire burned down the mill in the 1860s, and Peter started working in the mining industry, travelling to Similkameen Country in British Columbia, then to Cascades in Washington. His prospecting and mining work brought him to Lituya Bay and Nome Beach in Alaska, and to the Yukon for several years. Peter Trout documented much of his time travelling in his memoir, including particulars of gold mining in Alaska and Yukon.