Adopted 1 May 1923 as recommended by BC to Geographic Board of Canada (letters, April 1923). Confirmed 7 April 1949 on 94/NE. Name applied to wrong headwaters on 1954 edition of 94A. Original location confirmed 10 August 1959 on 94/NE; application altered 3 May 1961 on 94A/15, to extend headwaters to 57 25 - 120 30 (file R.1.49).

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

Named after Lieutenant George Berry Milligan, MC, who, as a British Columbia Land Surveyor had participated in exploratory surveys of the Peace River country in 1913-14 and later was killed in World War I. Born at Victoria 8 July 1888; commissioned as a BC Land Surveyor 1910. Milligan went to France as a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in December 1915. For his service in the field he was twice mentioned in despatches and recommended for the DSO and the MC. He was killed 24 March 1918 while engaged with his battery at Royelles. It is reported that he was recommended for the Victoria Cross for his heroism, evidenced during the carrying out of his duties on his last action. Milligan had been a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Union Club of Victoria. Milligan [had been] engaged on an exploratory survey of the Peace River Country during 1913-14, and wintered at Fort Nelson during his stay in the District. (see Geog.#167) "The Department is indebted to him for the naming of the many rivers, lakes and creeks in the territory which he explored and mapped during the period mentioned." (BC name card, 9 May 1923.) Milligan's map & correspondence in Surveyor-General's records - Map: 6 Locker I; Correspondence file: 7919S. See photograph in "British Columbia Land Surveyors Roll of Honour". Also Milligan Hills. [note that Mount Milligan was named for his brother, John Mudie Milligan, also a BCLS.]

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

Obituary or biography of Lieutenant Milligan appeared in the 1919 Annual Report of the Land Surveyors of British Columbia (copy not in BC place name files.) See also "In the Shadow of the Great War: the Milligan and Hart Explorations of Northeastern British Columbia, 1913-14" by Jay Sherwood; published by the Royal BC Museum, Victoria, 2013. Sherwood's book contains biographical information about Milligan, his journal entries & photographs, and a portion of Milligan's "Map of Northeasterly Portion of the Peace River District Compiled from Exploratory surveys, 1913-14" (original in Surveyor-General's vault, 6 Locker I)

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