About Williams Lake

Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is the second largest city, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel. The city is famous for its Williams Lake Stampede, which was once the second largest professional rodeo in Canada after only the Calgary Stampede. == History == Williams Lake is named in honour of Secwepemc chief William, whose counsel prevented the Shuswap from joining the Tsilhqot'in in their uprising against the settler population.The story of Williams Lake (called T'exelc by local First Nations communities of the region) begins as much as 4000 years ago. The story of Williams Lake written by those coming into the region from outside begins in 1860 during the Cariboo Gold Rush when Gold Commissioner Philip Henry Nind and William Pinchbeck, a constable with the British Columbia Provincial Police, arrived from Victoria to organize a local government and maintain law and order.