Adopted 23 February 1918 by the Geographic Board of Canada, as labelled on BC-Alberta Boundary sheet #8, surveyed in 1916, published in 1917.

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

Named in 1917 by interprovincial boundary surveyors, after Canadian aviator and flying ace William Avery "Billy" Bishop VC, DFC, DSO, who in April that year had engaged the notorious Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), and on June 2nd had flown a solo mission behind enemy lines to attack a German aerodrome, for which feat he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Bishop is credited with destroying 72 German airplanes in WW I, of which 45 were shot down in a 5-month period. See The Canadian Encyclopedia and other sources for additional information about Bishop, his marksmanship, flying skills and his subsequent career with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

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

"For most conspicuous bravery, determination, and skill. Captain Bishop, who had been sent out to work independently, flew first of all to an enemy aerodrome; finding no machines about, he flew on to another aerodrome about three miles southeast, which was at least 12 miles the other side of the line. Seven machines, some with their engines running, were on the ground. He attacked these from about fifty feet, and a mechanic, who was starting one of the engines, was seen to fall. One of the machines got off the ground, but at a height of 60 feet, Captain Bishop fired 15 rounds into it at very close range, and it crashed to the ground. A second machine got off the ground, into which he fired 30 rounds at 150 yards range, and it fell into a tree. Two more machines then rose from the aerodrome. One of these he engaged at a height of 1,000 feet, emptying the rest of his drum of ammunition. This machine crashed 300 yards from the aerodrome, after which Captain Bishop emptied a whole drum into the fourth hostile machine, and then flew back to his station. Four hostile scouts were about 1,250 feet above him for about a mile of his return journey, but they would not attack. His machine was very badly shot about by machine gun fire from the ground." (Bishop's Citation for the Victoria Cross, published in The London Gazette, 11 August 1917)

Source: included with note