Gastineau Channel is located trends NW from Stephens Passage to Auke Bay, between Douglas I. and the mainland, Coast Mts. 19 miles long.
Origin of the name somewhat obscure. Name appears on a manuscript map prepared for the Western Union Telegraph Co. in 1867. It was probably named for John Gastineau, 1820-85, an English civil engineer, who came to Canada in 1858 and did surveying and mapping for the British Columbia government. Baker (1906) says that the name was derived from one of the Hudson Bay Company's steamers. However, this has been questioned since the company had no vessel of this name on this coast. Captain George Vancouver, who exlpored this coast in 1794, overlooked this channel, probably because it was choked with ice at the time. The name "Carroll Straight" was probably for Captain James Carroll, a steamship captain and an early Juneau property owner (Dearmond, 1957, p. 20-21).