Thanks to Kaslo's 60th anniversary historical committee which put together the Diamond Jubilee History of Kaslo booklet (1953) from which much of the following information was compiled. Thanks also to Bronwyn Chomitz, who researched the history of the Kane family and this house, and to the Kaslo Historical Archives, which provided much of Bronwyn's material. Thanks also to the relatives and friends of the Kane family who shared their recollections and photographs with the current and previous owners of Kane Manor.

The area which would become known as Kaslo was completely uninhabited when George Thomas Kane came to the Kootenays in 1887 at age 25. He'd been sent by the Waterous Engine Works of Brantford, Ontario to install the machinery in a sawmill at Canal Flats. Around this time he visited Kootenay Lake and was very impressed with the beauty of the Kaslo area, and its possible location as a town. In 1889 he was sent again by the Waterous agents at Victoria, to select one or more mill sites for Joshua Davies of the Sayward Mill Company of Victoria, to whom Waterous had sold the machinery for a mill. Acting on these instructions, he selected two 300 acre sites, one at Pilot Bay, and the other at Kaslo, and applied to the authorities for both. Davies chose Pilot Bay, whereupon Kane took the Kaslo claim for himself.

George Kane arrived again in the spring of 1890, and applied for pre-emption of 80,000 acres. Some of the area north of this had been leased to G.O. Buchanan, a sawmill owner. Kane was granted the pre-emption, subject to Buchanan's lease rights, and sent for his younger brother, David, who was working as a machinist in Portland, Oregon, to help with the installation of the sawmill at Pilot Bay, and then to live on the pre-emption while he went to the coast to organize the Kaslo-Kootenay Land Co. (George also later organized the Kaslo-Slocan Railway Co., with the help of promoters from New Westminster and Victoria).
Wikipedia states that, "The Kaslo and Slocan faced stiff competition with the CPR's Nakusp and Slocan for the ore from the mines. On December 16, 1895, crews from the Kaslo and Slocan attacked and demolished the station the CPR had just built on land disputed between the two railways. The CPR relocated the station to other land."

David Kane built a log cabin almost on the corner of what is now Front and 3rd Streets. This was the first building in the area and he lived there alone all summer with only his dog Betsy and a tame bear cub for company. Later, when prospectors were arriving daily via sternwheelers and private boats, the now fully grown bear would meander down to meet the newcomers but it unfortunately developed an appetite for small dogs, which made it very unpopular with the newcomers, and eventually it was destroyed.

The boom in mining activity in the area greatly increased the prospects of Kaslo becoming a successful town. In the spring of 1891, the first frame house was constructed in the new town, and David Kane lived there. When miners and prospectors began to arrive in ever-growing numbers, he hired a cook to feed them. Many of the newcomers arrived in small boats, but the Galena, a twin screw boat, and the Nelson, Kootenay Lake's first stern-wheeler, were bringing in huge boatloads of men of every description, and soon land was being sold at fabulous prices for choice building lots. George Kane had set aside 160 acres for city lots, and in 1892 David began construction on his impressive new home, situated above the town and overlooking the town, lake and mountains beyond. In about 1893 the Kane brothers had brought their mother and younger siblings in from Ontario and when the big home on the hill was completed in 1894, they took up residence. Mrs. Kane and her daughters were the first white women to live in Kaslo. The grand house must have been quite the topic of conversation, since up until that time the town was still very rough in comparison - there were no sidewalks and no electric lights, and water was brought in by daily wagon delivery for 25 cents a barrel. David Kane was active in the waterworks project and when it was completed two years later, the residents of Kaslo enjoyed fresh water at the turn of a tap.

Fuelled by the frenzy of mining activity, the town had boomed so rapidly it now supported many business including hotels, two newspapers, 14 barber shops and a bank. Saloons of high and low degree lined the streets to provide refreshments to the passengers of the steamboats which were by then coming in at all hours of the day and night, and George Kane must have been doing well with sales of his town lots. In the meantime, the stage was set for impending financial disaster as 5 banks in Spokane, Washington closed in one day. The Kaslo bank failed to open its doors in July, and suddenly money was scarce. Eventually the steamboats began hauling passengers out for whatever they could spare, or for free. In 1894, before Kaslo could fully recover from the depression, two major disasters struck. In February a fire (likely set deliberately) destroyed almost an entire block of Front Street, and four months later further disaster struck when flooding and high winds destroyed 80 buildings, with many more ruined beyond repair. The water had crested at 33 feet above the high water mark and after it subsided many residents decided to re-build up on the hill in the areas around the new Kane home.

In that same year David Kane married May Elizabeth Millington, and they soon began a family: Mona May Elizabeth was followed by Mavis Yvonne in 1897 and Marcia Valdene in 1901. Music was important to David and May. Although David didn't play an instrument, May played the piano and had a fine voice, and they insisted that their girls take music lessons. Mona and Marcia played the violin and Mavis played the cello, and with mother May on the piano the family group was very popular at the Friday night dances in the Drill Hall.

All his life David Kane never ceased to work hard for Kaslo. He was on the Council, the Board of Trade the School Board, and he was Mayor in 1924. He was instrumental in having the waterworks put in in 1896. He was in the insurance business and for many years was the postmaster. May, his wife, took over the job of postmistress when David enlisted during the first world war, serving with Inland Water Transport.

David enjoyed gardening and was also keenly interested in photography. Many of his photographic enlargements may still be seen in Kaslo's public buildings. He was reputedly the first person in the Canadian West to become interested in color photography, sending to France for his plates and experimenting in putting photographs on paper even before they appeared in the National Geographic magazine.