How Lake Kathlyn got its Name...			...in Smithers, B.C.
			by Lillian Weedmark

When historian Wilson Duff defined a place name as "a reminder of history, indelibly stamped on the land. To inquire about it is to reawaken memories of the history that produced it", he might have had Lake Kathlyn in mind. Over the years the lake has had at least four names that we are aware of, including the original Wet'suwet'en name, 'Tas dliz', or, in the English translation, 'Boiling Lake'.

Lake Kathlyn and Hudson Bay Mountain

The name came from the ancient legend of a beautiful native princess who was swallowed by a sea monster. The chief and his people were so enraged at the death of their beloved princess that they surrounded the lakeside with stones, heated them and rolled them into the lake. The water of the lake boiled and killed the monster. This name lasted for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, until the white man came to the area.

The Jenning Brothers clearing land at Chicken Lake

The first white settlers began to settle around the lake in the early 1900's. During the winter of 1910\1911, the Jenning brothers, Duncan and Dave, were clearing land and living there. In the habit of early settlers, they renamed the place. 'Boiling Lake' soon became 'Chicken Lake'. According to early residents of the area, an old native Indian used to hunt and sell grouse to the settlers. He called the grouse 'chickens'.