Pitt 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 SW into Fraser River below Barnston Island, New Westminster Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 49°13'42"N, 122°46'04"W at the approximate mouth of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 92G/2
Related Maps:
Origin Notes and History:

Adopted 2 September 1930 on 92G/12, as labelled on A.C. Anderson's 1858 map, Arrowsmith's 1859 map, Trutch's 1871 map, and on BC map 2B, 1914, etc.

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

The first mention by name is "Pitts River" which occurs in the 1827 HBC journal kept by James McMillan. This proves that it does not derive from a settler: "Tuesday 24th July [1827]. We were opposite the Quoitle or Pitts River about 5 p.m. and at half past seven o'clock anchored close to the north side and about half a mile above Pine Island." (Journal of the HBC, Fort Langley, 1827-29; copy in Provincial Archives)

Source: Nelson, Denys; Place Names of the Delta of the Fraser River; 1927, unpublished manuscript held in the Provincial Archives

After William Pitt (1759-1806), great British statesman who was Prime Minister at age 24.

Source: Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions

The alternate name, Quoitle, seems to be the same as "Kwantlen", the name of the Indian Tribe who inhabit the banks of the Fraser River at this point, and which was formerly often spelled Quantlum or other variations. (Journal of the HBC, Fort Langley, 1827-29; copy in Provincial Archives)

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