The Land 33 About 1804, the Government began a series of land sales to cover payment of quit rents. Land in 100 acre blocks was auctioned off at the courthouse in Charlottetown by the sheriff until sufficient was sold to cover all expendi¬ tures. For Souris , the most important tax sale was in 1824 when William Maddox Hill, the sheriff, sold lawyer William Johnson of Charlottetown five hundred acres at known as "Red Cliffs."7 This estate, as shown on the accompanying map, included the shore half of all the Souris farms extending back about a thousand yards to the eastern boundary known for many years as "Forgan's Line." William Johnson , the new owner of most of present day Souris , a native of Dumfries, Scotland , had been Attorney General of the Island since 1813. He took no interest in the property. After his death in 1828, his heirs repres¬ ented by his son-in-law, William Forgan , made some sales. The first recorded one made January 2,1847, was to Thomas Stone , forty-eight acres for forty-eight pounds, a long narrow farm which had a shore line on and was bounded by the eastern boundary of Paul Winter- halder's residential property and the western boundary of the original Souris Hospital property and extending back a distance beyond the present Town limits.8 There were other settlers on Red Cliffs at this time. They had been there for many years and continued there, undisturbed, until 1859, when William Forgan , on behalf of his wife and in-laws, sued some of the Souris residents—presumably for rent. Judgement against Edward Keays was for 76 pounds 13 shillings and against Margaret MacPhee for 93 pounds 11 shillings. However, Acadian settlers at the western end of the Town fought a test case in Court and won. Their plea was that they were squatters flagrant and notorious of more than twenty-one years, so could not be evicted. The judge agreed and, as a result, Forgan's Red Cliffs lost at least 250 acres.9 Today because of this decision, half of Souris land titles trace back to squatters rights. Neil MacDonald and his neighbours, Alexander MacAulay , Donald MacAulay and Roderick MacDonald also benefited from the decision. They had moved in from the north side of the Island about the same time that the Acadians settled on the western end of the Town and were undoubtedly squatters too. Red Cliffs - The Original Ten Farms of Souris : The first families of Souris may be thought of mostly as farmer/fisher¬ men. On the map of 1835 is shown the location of the ten farms on what is present-day Souris .10 Paul Bushey On the western boundary of the Town was the farm of Paul Bushey (1790-1877), a , and his wife Margaret Longaphie (1793-1865) of Fortune. They lived with their family of seven sons and five daughters on land that is now the David Townshend farm. The home was given to the sons, Lewis and Charles, the latter of whom was a great fiddler and heavy drinker. The more he drank the better he fiddled a nephew said. But Charles fell one night at a frolic and was playfully jumped on by a friend resulting in death from a broken gall bladder. The friend was tried for murder and acquitted. Lewis Bushey moved away after selling the old home to J.G .