| 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 W into North Bentinck Arm, W of Anahim, Range 3 Coast Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 52°23'23"N, 126°46'39"W at the approximate mouth of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 93D/7 |
| Related Maps: |
93D/7 93D/8 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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"Bellakula River (not Bela Kula nor Bella Coola)" adopted in the 13th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1914. Spelling changed to Bella Coola River in the 18th Report, 31 March 1924, as had been labelled on G.M. Dawson's 1875 map, "British Columbia between the Fraser River and the Coast Range." Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Spelled "Bill Whoalla" by Captain Venables, 1862; "Balla Koula" by John Pawson, 1862; this is the river called "Nookhalk" by Lieutenant Palmer, RE, in his 1863 report. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Indian name meaning "beautiful valley". Note however that anthropologist Wilson Duff advised November 1964 that this may not be correct. After an Indian tribe, the name given them by the Kwakiutl. Source: Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions |
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Bella Coola River is formed by the confluence of the Atnarko and Talchako Rivers. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Headwaters at 52 22 - 126 05 on 93D/8 Source: Canadian Geographical Names Database, Ottawa |