In the years that followed, James and Rose took refuge in a British Colombia mining colony under the guise of being cousins. James also assumed the name of "Logan" in order to hide his identity. As the hard work of mining toughened his body, and his mutant powers developed, he grew to be unusually strong and ferocious. He was immune to the elements and even ran with the wolves in the forest, learning to hunt as an animal hunts. "Logan" became a valuable and admirable figure amongst the small community of miners due to his hard work and strong ethics, earning him the respect of his peers, including the foreman Smitty, who became a surrogate father figure to James. During this period, James developed strong feelings for Rose, but could not act on them for the sake of their guise as cousins. Smitty, who had been mentoring James all these years, had also grown close to Rose, and the two eventually fell in love and became engaged, much to the scorn and surprise of James, who later accepted the situation for the sake of Rose's happiness. Meanwhile, the elder John Howlett was in failing health and asked Dog to find Rose and his grandson so he could make peace with them before he died. Dog agreed. However, Dog (who has become a physically formidable man himself) decides to track them down so he can kill James.