Stikine River adopted 1 August 1898 on Department of Interior map, Yukon, sheet # 3; published in the 1st Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 1898. Re-approved on subsequent maps, most recently 20 January 1955 on 104B.

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

"From a Tlingit word meaning 'the river'", in the sense of "the definitive, or great river" as reported in 1799 by Captain Rowan, commander of Eliza of Boston. Labelled "Ryka Stahkin" on Russian Chart, 1848, amended to its' present spelling 1869. In the face of Russian expansion in Alaska and the discovery of gold in the area, the Stickeen Territories were established under British sovereignty in 1862, and incorporated into British Columbia in 1863. The river was called St. Francis River in "Purchase of the Russian Possessions in North America by the U.S.A.", a letter from Mr. Collins to Mr. Seward, New York, dated 4 April 1867. (No. 5203, Library of the Dept. of State, Washington, DC)
Additional variations: St. Francis River, Pelly's River, Shikene, Stachine, Stachin, Stah-Keena, Stahkin, Stakeen, Stickeen, Stickienes, Stikeen, Stikin, Sucheen.

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

From "Stahankane" meaning "grande rivière"... (Fr. Etienne Joseph Guinard, Les Noms Indiens de mon Pays, p. 166.)

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