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According to Mr. E.E. Hurley, Aron Westman and Eric Anderson came to Otter Lake from Pellat, Ontario in the 1920's and built a cabin at the south end of the lake. Westman and Anderson trapped as partners, but after about a year Anderson left. At this point Westman bought Ernie Hurley's trapline.

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Mr. Westman is remembered by those who knew him as a very kind man, a "grandfatherly type" of Scandinavian descent, he was a fairly large man with white hair and a handelbar mustache. Although hard of hearing he was very soft spoken and smoked a pipe. His English was not very good, he did not talk a lot and he was not much for visiting.

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Westman did odd jobs for the cottagers around the lake. He would cut and split wood for about $1.00 a cord in the late 1930's, but would not pile it. 

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Westman and Ernie Hurley built the cottage on the Island, using logs from the original store at the south end of the lake. 

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Westman trapped a very large black wolf which he sold to the Royal Ontarion Museum in Toronto and may still be on display today.  During the writing of the Otteremere book a photo of this wolf was obtained from the museum. The Museum sent a letter verifying that the wolf was caught in a wire snare at Malachi, Malachi Township, Kenora District on February 4, 1936 and sold to the Museum by A.J. Westman.

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Aron Westman died in December 1941 when he fell through the ice at the mouth of the creek on his way to Hurley's store. A cairn marks the spot where he is buried along a path on the north side of the track.