18 CHRONICLES OF THE CARIBOO

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Waugh! You see! Whiteman devil fire water not good for Injin,
Waugh!” he declaimed, evidently immensely pleased with his experi-
mental demonstration. At this critical juncture one of the Shuswap
chiefs, a man of middle age and short, broad figure, clad all in fringed
buckskins, in whose countenance intelligence and benevolent good feel-
ing blended so well that it fairly shone with it, stepped up to Jim and
shook hands also saying in rapid Chinook: “Conaway tillicum coopa
Bacheese, skookum tillicum coopa Tyee Willyam mitlite!” (All friends
of Baptiste are good friends of Chief William also.)

This was the famous Chief William of the William’s Lake Shu-
swaps whose wise and eloquent councils during succeeding years help-
ed so much to prevent the execution of the Chilcotin plan of joining
forces with the Shuswaps and Denes that would surely have resulted
in a general massacre of the whites then in the Cariboo.

It was in recognition of this signal service to the country that the
early whites named William’s Lake after him. Hence “William's
Lake”, Cariboo’s com town - now erroneously spelled “Williams Lake” -
without the apostrophe.

Then he led his little following of chiefs around the circle of
whites saying in his Chinook as he shook hands with each in turn:
“Good bye, friend, Good feast! Good friends!” Then in Shuswap:
“Cook statchem!” (Thank you!) This little ceremony over they all
disappeared silently into the night.

All but Baptiste and Tomaah
whom Dunlevey detained to tell
them of his sudden decision to
start out in the morning for the
little river. He had been half ex-
pecting a break of the kind and
was thankful it had ended no worse
and to Baptiste for his quick think-
ing and acting that had forestalled
“\ a row.

As if to verify the wisdom of his
decision, McLean now spoke up:
“Jim, we shoulda just grabbed
them wenches and if the bucks ob-
jected we coulda cleaned up on
‘em.” But Jim didn’t agree. He
said with his good natured grin:
“You’d have had to clean up on me

| Shuswep JjyPe first, though, John, and I don’t
think you could do that.” Immed-
“Belle of the Cariboo.” iately Baptiste stepped in between

them facing McLean and said with
a grin matching Jim’s:
“You lak’ sombodee clean up you, John? Me, Ido! Demn queek,
too, waugh! No tak long!”

But McLean had seen both Sellers and Baptiste in action at the