Last week Joe bought a new pair of boots.
"Come in. Come in," welcomed the photographer. MacKay's the name . . . at your service.
Joe removed his floppy brimmed hat as he entered the log and canvas building. "I'm here for a look-see," said Joe.
The two interior sidewalls of MacKay's studio were decorated with an assortment of photographs. There were individual portraits of men in their work clothes, policemen in uniforms, women in long flowing dresses and group-shots including the 1st Boy Scout Troup of Tte Jaune Cache, railway workers standing beside an enormous steam locomotive engine and a formal portrait of five male Indians sitting in a row. The men in this picture were dressed in buck-skin and moccasins. The photograph seemed, some how, familiar to Joe as he gazed at the portrait.
"Did you make this one? " asked Joe as he pointed with his finger.
"That, my boy, is one that I purchased from a stock of photographs, glass-plates and the photographic apparatus when I took up this fine business venture. It was taken long before my time. I believe the date is inscribed on the back," explained MacKay as he picked up the photograph. He read, "May, 1867, St. Mary's Mission, New Westminster. That would make this one 46 years old. If I remember right, those were some of the Indian Chiefs from the Interior. You know, Soda Creek, Dog Creek, Babine Lake, William's Lake and some other parts I don't recall."
"That was before my time too," explained Joe.
"What I do recall," continued MacKay, "The Indians you see there in that portrait were all hanged in Quesnel for the murder of a bunch of road-builders down at the coast. There was some sort of massacre by the local Indians down by Bute Inlet. Those nine chiefs, the same Indians that were gathered up and shipped down to New Westminster to be entertained by Governor Seymour at one of them big Dominion Day celebrations, all hanged. So much for the food, fireworks and canoe races."
"Those five Indians were all murderers?" interrupted Joe.
"No, not at all," explained the photographer. "The authorities could never catch the real culprits. Those Indians were hanged in place of the ones who did the killing."
Joe put his hat on and changed the subject. "I think I'd like my picture done up the same as these ones." Joe pointed to a photograph of some railway workers.
"Just have a seat over there in front of the canvas background," instructed MacKay. "This won't hurt one little bit. That's good. Now put your left foot up on that little bench. That's good. Now, cross your arms and lean forward."
In the next episode, THE B.C. EXPRESS, Joe gets his hair cut at one of the Lady Barber shops on Main Street. But, will he take a bath before showing up for work at his new job? Only time will tell.
