Houston Stewart Channel is a strait in

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It separates

Moresby Island Moresby Island () is a large island () that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia, Canada, located at It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other princip ...

and

Kunghit Island Kunghit Island is an island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the southernmost island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, located to the south of Moresby Island. The southernmost point of Kunghit Island, called Cape St James, is use ...

. Houston Stewart Channel was given its name by

James Charles Prevost James Charles Prevost (1810–1891) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. He was born in Bedhampton, Hampshire, England, the son of Rear-Admiral James Prevost and his first wife Frances née Haultain, and grandson of George Prevost. He joined th ...

in 1853, in honour of

William Houston Stewart Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir William Houston Stewart, (7 September 1822 – 13 November 1901) was a senior British naval officer who, after a long, active career, eventually held the office of the Third Sea Lord, Controller of the Royal Na ...

, his predecessor aboard '' ''HMS Virago''''. Maritime fur trader George Dixon called it Ibberston Sound in 1787. American fur traders called it Barrell Sound, so-named by John Kendrick and Robert Gray in 1789, in honour of Joseph Barrell, one of the owners of the ships ''

Columbia Rediviva ''Columbia Rediviva'' (commonly known as ''Columbia'') was a privately owned American ship under the command, first, of John Kendrick, and later Captain Robert Gray, best known for being the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe, a ...

'' and ''

Lady Washington ''Lady Washington'' is a ship name shared by at least four vessels. The original sailed during the American Revolutionary War and harassed British shipping. Another vessel was used as a merchant trading vessel in the Pacific. A somewhat update ...

''. It was also known as Koya's Straits, after Chief

Koyah Koyah, also Xo'ya, Coya, Coyour, Kower, Kouyer (; 1787–1795), was the chief of Ninstints or Skungwai, the main village of the Kunghit-Haida during the era of the Maritime Fur Trade in Haida Gwaii off the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. ...

of the

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

. The Channel was the location for conflict between the Haida and two visiting fur trading vessels in 1794, the ''Ino'' and the ''Resolution''.

References

Landforms of Haida Gwaii Straits of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub