Description
Heads in glacier 5 mi. SE of Mount Kelsall in British Columbia, flows W and SE to Chilkat River, 10 mi upstream from the mouth of the Klekhini River, 3.4 mi. W of Klutshah Mtn. and 26 mi. NW to Skagway, St. Elias Mts.
History
Named by United States and Canada in 1916 for R. Kelsall, a member of the British Columbia-Yukon Boundary Surveying Party in 1908. The Tlingit Indian name Jelchhini, meaning crow river, was published as Jelchitni by Aurel and Arthur Krause (1883, map). The local name was reported as Bear Creek by C. W. Wright (1904, pl. 2 and p. 13), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The name Kelsall River was published in 1923 on International Boundary Commission (IBC) Sheet 9 (1951 atlas).