Fort Totten on Devils Lake was established in 1867 and for several years was supplied from Fort Stevenson on the Missouri River some 128 miles overland. Mail and some light supplies came from Fort Abercrombie on the Red River, but either route was tedious and at times very dangerous. When the Northern Pacific Railroad arrived at the James River crossing, immediate plans were made for a fort to aid in getting supplies to Fort Totten. This would save up to 40 miles of traveling. The first recorded trip between the two places was in 1872 when A.W. Kelly, a businessman at Fort Totten for years, drove a herd of 130 cattle the 81 miles to Fort Seward. The town of Jamestown was built just east of the fort.
The trail nearly paralleled the James River north as far as Lake Belland, then north past Nine-Mile Lake in Eddy County to the Bremmer Crossing on the Sheyenne River, then northwest to Fort Totten. It would take light vehicles about two days and heavy freight about four days to make the trip.
The original rest stop was on the west side of Lake Belland, now named Lake Juanita, about two miles east of Grace City. Joe Belland, a loner, hunter and trapper, built a dug-out on this location. It was a good camping place with plenty of grazing and water. The old dug-out site that was first used may still be seen near the mouth of Belland Creek and facing into the lake. The lake was named after Mr. Belland until later times when it was changed to Lake Juanita. After living there for a few years, Mr. Belland disappeared.
Mrs. Adeline Potter of Grace City wrote the following report of Belland. She called him Henry instead of Joe.
A Frenchman named Belland came from eastern Canada, perhaps from the "Basin of Nines" to Dakota Territory in 1863. There is some speculation that he may have been a scout with Sibley when he traveled through the area in 1863. It is thought that he possibly came by boat, following the watercourses. A hand made row lock, that was pounded out on an anvil, has been found and believed to have been possessed by him.
He was a hunter and trapper and made his home on the west side of the lake near many fur-bearing animals. This place is still the home of the badger, skunk, mink, muskrat and weasel.
He was married to a squaw and lived in the area for about ten years, spending time hunting and trapping. In later years he kept horses for the relay teams on the Fort Totten Trail.
The fact that Belland was a squaw man was possibly the reason he was unmolested during the time that the Indians were restless. Larrabee eventually bought Belland's buildings and moved them to his place.
Following Belland, a man named "Slothful Joe" Hayes occupied the dug-out until 1876 when William A. Larrabee started a station about a mile and a half south on the east side of the James River.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 23