Jones, Johnny

flintlock musket barrel

flintlock musket barrel

flintlock musket barrel

Description:

A flintlock musket barrel donated by Johnny Jones that was found at Chaleetkohum, where it's located above Baptiste Smith on the north side of Lillooet Lake. Johnny also provided a map indicating where it was found. Johnny also donated a newspaper article about these objects published in the "Voice" in 1999. The article explains how Johnny was taking part in a Cultural Heritage Inventory for the traditional Lil’wat territory. This work was to create a clear concise map of the areas and artifacts of cultural significance in the territory. Johnny was down along Lillooet Lake at the old 29 Mile gold rush stopping place when he saw an item jutting out of the river bottom. Upon closer inspection he realized it was a musket barrel. Johnny believes this is evidence of the story of a war between the Lil’wat and Thompson nations where two Thompson’s died and were buried at the 29 Mile site. [ see pg.18 in the Pemberton History book]. Aside from the musket barrel he also found graves and arrowheads. here. The musket may be the very first gun ever seen by the Lil’wat people. In the article Jones says, “At one time there were 16,000 people living along Lillooet Lake, then the smallpox epidemic of the late 1800s and early 1900s killed a lot of the people. Their lives should not be lost, their stories told”. Johnny had planned on having it dated and authenticated by a gun expert but decided to give the item to the museum to pursue this work. He believes a similar item is on display at the Royal BC museum.

Keywords:

musket, firearm

Source:

Jones, Johnny [Yeq'iakwa7]

Date of Object:

ca. late 1700s - early 1800s

Accession #:

020.02.01

Dimensions:

107cm L X 6cm W

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