Studio portrait; Colonel George E. Laidlaw (1860-1927) was born in Toronto, the son of George Laidlaw, a railway builder in the Trent Valley. After graduating from the Royal Military College, Laidlaw became involved in the military. He fought in the west during the 1885 Riel Rebellion, and was an officer in the Lord Strathcona Horse during the South African War. Laidlaw's other interests included politics and native and Ontario folklore. From the ranch that he and his partner Macdonald operated on Balsam Lake in Victoria County, Ontario (called the Fort, where they raised beef cattle), Laidlaw found a base for his interests.