Railway, later BC Rail and now CN Rail. On July 5, 1867, the Roman Catholic Church established St. Joseph's Mission halfway between Williams Lake and 150 Mile House. In 1891, the mission opened an Indian residential school, called St. Joseph's School. The school became one of the most notorious Indian residential schools over the 90 years it operated. A St. Joseph's School reunion in 2013 in Williams Lake led to the creation of Orange Shirt Day, a memorial to the victims of the Canadian Indian residential school system that is observed nationally. A memorial monument to the victims of the school was also erected in 2013, in Boitanio Park. In July 2017, the province of British Columbia declared a state of emergency with more than 200 fires burning, mostly in the central region of the province. Residents from Williams Lake along with other communities in central British Columbia such as Ashcroft and 100 Mile House were given evacuation orders and most of those affected went to either Prince George or Kamloops. On August 15, 2022 the City of Williams Lake officially proclaimed the third week of August as LGBTQ2S Pride Week for the first time in the city’s history, and raised the incusive pride flag at city hall. Economy The primary industries in Williams Lake are forestry, logging, sawmilling, mining and ranching. Timber has a long history in Williams Lake, dating back to the 1950s when many independent sawmills such as the Jacobson Brothers operated in town. In the 1990s and 2000s, the independent sawmills sold their businesses or merged to become larger operations. Currently, West Fraser Timber and Tolko Industries operate sawmills in Williams Lake. The Gibraltar Mine is the second-largest open-pit copper mine in Canada, operated by Taseko Mines. It is located just north of Williams Lake and employs many residents. Climate Williams Lake has a humid continental climate with warm summers. Spring is the driest time of year, and summer and winter are the wettest seasons respectively. Williams Lake receives about 2,000 hours of bright sunshine per year, which is more than most of the province. It is also located in the rain shadow of the coastal mountains. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Williams Lake was on 22 January 1943, and the highest temperature ever recorded was on 16 & 17 July 1941. Williams Lake – along with Billings, and nearby McLeese Lake – holds the