| 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 NW into Parsnip Reach, S end Williston Lake, Cariboo Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 55°10'21"N, 123°04'12"W at the approximate mouth of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 93O/3 |
| Related Maps: |
93I/5 93O/3 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 22 October 1945 on 94SE, as labelled on BC map 1H, 1917, and as identified in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Coordinates of mouth adjusted 3 June 1974 on 93O/3, because of flooding of Williston Lake. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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"The name of the river comes from the abundance of cow-parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) growing on its banks." (Prof. Macoun, quoted in the report of N.B. Gauvreau, CE, 1891) Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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R.M. Patterson mentions the "almost tropical growth of the giant cow parsnip from which the river gets is name." He found this growing up to 7-feet high and says "the din of the rain on the huge leaves was like the rush of a tremendous wind." (Finlay's River, p.38). This plant is sometimes called "Indian Rhubarb" since the Indians eat the petioles or leaf-stalks. Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; 1001 British Columbia Place Names; Discovery Press, Vancouver 1969, 1970, 1973. |