Lopez as trapper

Edward Ruben remembers when Lopez was still trapping around Baillie Islands:
"[There were] so many foxes. [He had] a dozen traps to start with, later on in winter before the season closed, [he] took chain out, dog chain, [and caught] 300 foxes, with no dogs. Those white trappers must have made good money. Peter Lopez, his boss stopped by Booth Island. He's the captain, had over 1000 foxes. The highest price I knew was when Captain Pedersen paid $75 to $95 for fox. After ten years, we were in Tom Cod Bay since 1925, around ... fur dropped right down. There were two sisters, stayed at Tom Cod Bay three or four [years] ?, then moved to Aklavik. Nice people." (Edward Ruben 2002). Peter Lopez was still living at Baillie Island in 1925 (Gillingham 1955).

Illegal Trappers
In 1931, Lopez's experiences with the CAE on Melville Island brought him into contact with two trappers (Verville and Austin) who travelled illegally to Banks Island, hoping to reach the Bernier cache on Melville Island which the CAE had used in 1916-1918. "Peter Lopez, trapper of Tom Cod Bay states, that Mr. Verville questioned him very closely with regard to the exact location of an expedition cache, stuated on the south west part of Melville Island where there is food, clothing, and as I understand distillate." (Letter to G Division RCMP from Const Wilson, Pearce Point Detachment RCMP, 29 July 1931. National Archives of Canada RG 85 Vol. 825 File 7210).