Lajoie Lake, also known as Little Gun Lake, is a small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Bridge River Country The Bridge River Country is a historic geographic region and mining district in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada, lying between the Fraser Canyon and the valley of the Lillooet River, south of the Chilcotin Plateau and north of the Lilloo ...

of the West-Central Interior of British Columbia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, located three miles west of the community of

Gold Bridge Gold Bridge is an unincorporated community in the Bridge River Country of British Columbia, Canada. Although numbering only around 40 inhabitants, Gold Bridge is the service and supply centre for the upper basin of the Bridge River Valley, which i ...

and just southwest of Gun Lake, which is also known as Big Gun Lake. The two lakes together are known as the Gun Lakes and both are recreational communities with a history of such settlement dating back to the 1920s. The lake is approximately 3 km² (1 sq mi) in size and is drained by Lajoie Creek, which drains into Big Gun Lake and from that lake's northeastern end into Gun Creek. The creek, lake and nearby

Lajoie Dam Lajoie Dam is the uppermost of the storage dams of BC Hydro's Bridge River Power Project, which is located in the southwestern Interior of British Columbia. It is located just west of the small semi-ghost town of Gold Bridge. An earthfill struct ...

and the adjoining small company townsite of Lajoie are named for "Lazack" Lajoie, a colourful French-Canadian prospector and promoter who tried to advance the area of the Gun Lakes both as a major potential gold mine and also the site of a future city. "Little Gun" is the site of the Little Gun Lake Lodge, a custom-built log-cabin mansion built by William G. "Big Bill" Davidson, who also built

Minto City Minto City, often called just Minto, sometimes Minto Mines, Minto Mine, Skumakum, or "land of plenty", was a gold mining town in the Bridge River Valley of British Columbia from 1930 to 1936, located at the confluence of that river with Gun Cree ...

, to host investors and VIPs visiting the Bralorne-Pioneer Mines about ten miles south of Gold Bridge. To serve the lodge floatplanes were landed on the lake, and a helicopter pad was also built on the lodge's property, which is the largest private land-holding on the lake and includes the lake itself. It was from Lajoie Lake that mine promoter David Sloan, namesake of the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

-like Mount Sloan, which overlooks the lake from the other side of the

Bridge River The Bridge River is an approximately long river in southern British Columbia. It flows south-east from the Coast Mountains. Until 1961, it was a major tributary of the Fraser River, entering that stream about six miles upstream from the town of ...

to its south, too off on his last flight, dying in a plane crash at

Alta Lake Alta Lake may refer to: * Alta Lake State Park, Washington, US * Alta Lake (British Columbia), British Columbia, Canada * Alta Lake, British Columbia, a former recreational community and BCR railway station, now part of the Resort Municipality ...

(now in the resort of Whistler). The lodge was for some time operated as a private boutique-hotel but is now a private residence. In addition to the lodge there are a number of other recreational properties around the lake. As a community it has a full-time population in the range of 30.

References

* *''Short Portage to Lillooet'', Irene Edwards, self-publ., Lillooet BC, 1976 *''Bridge River Gold'', Emma de Hulla and Irene Cunningham, self-publ. Lakes of British Columbia Bridge River Country Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia {{cariboo-geo-stub