David Anderson Behie: a life of quiet desperation?

This tintype speaks volumes, once its context is known:

David Anderson Behie was born in Sheet Harbor NS in 1869, and seems to have spent much of his life in the lumber industry. In 1900 he was in Marinette WI (about 50 miles north of Green Bay), where he filed a Declaration of Intention to become a US citizen (stating that he had been in the US since 1891, and that he was born in 1871). In 1904 he married Anna E. in Knappa OR (near Astoria OR, at the mouth of the Columbia River). In 1910 his supervisor at the North Pacific Lumber Company provided a reference, noting that he had been "employed as Boom Boss... for some time past". Sortly afterwards he returned to Sheet Harbour, and in January 1913 he married again.

Those are the basic facts. Some Google work fills in a few more details:

From a genealogy site:

David Anderson Behie [Parents] was born in 1869 in Sheet Harbour, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia, Canada. He married Mabel Rebecca.

They had the following children:

Frederick Hutchison Behie was born in 1918 in Sheet Harbour, Halifax Co., Nova Scotia, Canada. He died on 2 May 1945 in Groesbeek, Netherlands. The cause of death was World War 11. He was buried in Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery.

From some research on a Canadian WWII veteran:

Corporal Frederick Hutchison Behie, or "Freddie" as his family and friends called him, was born in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia to Anderson David Behie and Rebecca Mabel (Gammon). He was blessed with a big and loving family. His brothers and sisters consisted of, from the eldest to youngest, a half brother, Anderson Behie, and a half sister Mabel, from his father's first marriage. His brother and sisters from his father's second marriage were as follows: Alberta Edna (Conrod), Norman Garfield Behie, Freddie (himself), Sadie (Behie) Ferguson, Lottie (Behie) Sweet, and Vera Maude (Behie) McLean.

...Corporal Frederick Behie, was killed on May 2nd, 1945 at the age of twenty-seven in the western European theatre of war. His family was informed that he was killed on his motorcycle while delivering dispatches to the front lines. He was run over by a jeep, and some of his comrades say it was an allied vehicle, in the dark of night. All vehicles drove at night without lights. His death occurred just six days before peace was declared.

From a recent obituary:

CONROD, Alberta Edna - 93, Sheet Harbour, passed away Thursday, August 10, 2006, at home. Born in Sheet Harbour on July 17, 1913, she was the daughter of the late Anderson and Rebecca (Gammon) Behie.

From a Rootsweb.com record:

I# D: I49549
# Name: Anderson BEHIE 1
# Sex: M
# Reference Number: 49629
Marriage 1 Mabel GAMMON
Children Norman Garfield BEHIE b: 1916 in Sheet Harbour, Halifax, NS
1. Title: Obituary Notice for Norman Garfield Behie
Author: Halifax Chronicle-Herald
Publication: 24 Oct 1987--transcribed by Joe Whitby

From a history of Sheet Harbour NS

I received information from Mr. Anderson Behie, a resident of Sheet Harbour at the time when Haverlock Mc C. Hart bought the mill site in 1878, bringing the new mill gear, also building a new saw mill which was run by water power using a turbine water wheel. In taking up grants of land, also a few leases from the Crown, the company accumulated approximately 60,000 acres of land on the West River watershed.

and Behie Road in Sheet Harbour, NS

The documents I have include a copy of the divorce decree (which specifies that David Anderson Behie was to have custody of the two children), two letters from the judge, a letter from a person who identifies herself as a cousin which describes Anna's behavior, and several newspaper clippings describing divorce cases of the same era.