Fort Nelson 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 N into Liard River, NW of Fort Nelson (municipality), Peace River Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 59°33'00"N, 123°59'53"W at the approximate mouth of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 94O/12
Related Maps:
Origin Notes and History:

Fort Nelson River adopted 17 January 1899; not "Nelson River" as labelled on earlier maps.

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

Renamed to avoid confusion with the Nelson River in Manitoba; in association with the Northwest Company's Fort Nelson trading post, opened 1812-15, then operated by the Hudson's Bay Company 1820-25 and continuously from 1860.

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

"The Fort Nelson River is formed by the junction of the Sikanni Chief and Fontas Rivers, at which point it is from 400 to 500 feet wide...." (extracts from the report of G.B. Milligan, surveyor, 14 December 1914)

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