British Columbia
Much of the mainland region was originally
known as New Caledonia; however, this name
(duplicated in South Pacific) was
discarded in favor of British Columbia. The designation
appears to have originated with
Queen Victoria and was officially proclaimed in 1858. Columbia
(after the Columbia River which
was named by the American Captain Robert Gray for his ship
Columbia ) had previously been
loosely applied to the southern portion of the colony.
Source: Hamilton, William B. (1978): The Macmillan book
of Canadian place names, Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, p.340.
General
Information About British Columbia
Archival
Resources in British Columbia
National
Parks
National
Historic Sites
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