Liard River
Feature Type:River - Watercourse of variable size, which has tributaries and flows into a body of water or a larger watercourse.
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: Flows SE across Yukon-BC boundary near Lower Post, eventually turning to flow NE across BC-NWT boundary NW of Fort Nelson, thence into the Mackenzie River, Peace River Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 59°59'59"N, 123°48'02"W at the approximate mouth of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 94O/13
Related Maps:
Origin Notes and History:

Liard River adopted in the 1st Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 1898, not "Rivière aux Liards" as on earlier maps.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Headwaters in Yukon at 61 15-131 36. Flows into BC at 60 00-128 35 35. Length in BC = 266 miles. Flows NE from BC into NWT at 60 00-123 43. Mouth in NWT at 61 50 55-121 18 30.

Source: BC place name cards, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff.

Descriptive; from the abundance of Cottonwood trees (in French: Liards) on its banks. Abbé E. Petitot explored the "rivière des Liards" in the 1870s.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

The Kaska name for the river is Nêt´i Tué, meaning "river flowing from mountains where sheep are snared." (1999 advice from Yukon Native Language Centre).

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Adopted in the 1st Report (1898) and in 18th Report (1924). Re-approved for inclusion on assorted maps: April 4,1944 (94/NW); December 21,1944 (104/NE); December 27,1944 (94/NE); June 9,1948 (104P/15); June 6,1950 (104P); 7 March 1951 (94M); January 17,1951 (94NTS); June 7,1961 (94/NE).

Source: Canadian Geographical Names Database, Ottawa