Stickeen Territories

Stickeen Territories
Territory ofBritish North America
1862–1863
Flag
Government
• Type	Provisional administration
Monarch
• 1862–1863	Victoria
Administrator of the Government
• 1862-1863	James Douglas
History
• Established	1862
• Disestablished	1863
Preceded by Succeeded by North-Western Territory Russian America Colony of British Columbia (1858-1866) Russian America

TheStickeen Territories/stɪˈkiːn/,also colloquially rendered asStickeen Territory,Stikine Territory,andStikeen Territory,was aterritoryofBritish North Americawhose brief existence began July 19, 1862, and concluded July of the following year. The region was split from theNorth-Western Territoryin the wake of theStikine Gold Rush.The initial strike attracted large numbers of miners — mostly American — to the region; by detaching the region from the exclusive trade zone of theHudson's Bay Company,British authorities were able to impose tariffs and licences on the speculators. The new territory, named after theStikine River,was under the responsibility of the Governor of theColony of British Columbia,James Douglas,who was appointed "Administrator of the Stickeen Territories" and under British law, within the jurisdiction of theSupreme Court of British Columbia.

The boundaries of the Stickeen Territories were the62nd parallelto the north, the125th meridianto the east, theNassandFinlay Riversto the south, and the panhandle ofRussian Americato the west (only vaguely defined by treaty and disputed until resolved with theAlaska Boundary Settlementof 1903).

A year later, the Stickeen Territories was dissolved, most of its former land being added to theColony of British Columbia,except for the sector north of the60th parallel,which was returned to theNorth-Western Territory.In 1895, most of this strip was again redistributed, this time to theDistrict of Yukon,as newly constituted during the midst of theKlondike Gold Rush.The remainder of the strip stayed in theNorthwest Territories.

See also

• Alaska boundary dispute
• Fort Stikine
• North-Western Territory
• Stikine Country
• Stikine Gold Rush
• Stikine Region
• Stikine River