Chilko 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 NE into Chilcotin River, W of Alexis Creek (community), Cariboo Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 52°05'41"N, 123°27'42"W at the approximate mouth of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 93B/3
Related Maps:
Other Recorded Names:
Chilco River
Origin Notes and History:

Chilko River adopted 26 June 1911, not "Chilco River" as spelled on Trutch's 1871 map of BC, nor "Chilcote River" another variation.

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

"From a Chilcotin ... word meaning 'ochre river' ...[Chilcotin] can be translated as 'ochre river people' here referring not to the colour but to the mineralized substance (usually red or yellow) much prized by the [First Nations] for use as a base for paint or dye."

Source: Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997