Stikine River
The Stikine River flows southwest out of Stikine Plateau through Northern
BC and the
BC-Alaska boundary. It is the fourth-longest river in the province and its Tlingit First Nation name
simply means
the river.
Stikine River was a transportation route to several northern gold rushes during the
1800s. Its lower reaches were traversed by stern-wheeled paddle steamers for almost a century.
This
1860 map, from the
Colonial Despatches collection, provides several fascinating details on the “Stekin River”.
The Stikine Ranges in North-central
BC are named after the river.
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 568.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. Ibid.