upper Stikine is today known as the Spatsizi River. Another Tahltan name for the river was Tudessa, "long river", from which the Tudenekoten clan of Tahltan took its name. Russian fur traders called the river ryka Stahkin (река Стакин), changed to Stikine by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1869 after the Alaska Purchase. Other 19th century names for the river include "St. Francis River" and "Pelly's River". A historic alternative spelling was Stickeen, reflected in the short-lived British Stickeen Territories. Geography The Stikine River basin covers about in the Stikine Region and Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine, BC, with a small portion in the City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska. Most of the Stikine basin corresponds with the southern half of the Stikine Plateau, a vast and mostly forested region of dissected plateaus, rolling hills and narrow valleys in northwest BC. The Stikine Plateau is bordered on the east by the Cassiar Mountains and Omineca Mountains and on the south by the Stikine Ranges of the Skeena Mountains. All three ranges are part of BC's Interior Mountains. To the west are the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains, which run along the U.S.–Canada border. After collecting runoff from the Stikine Plateau, the Stikine River slices west through the Coast Mountains, emptying into the Inside Passage roughly in the middle of the Alexander Archipelago, which shelters Inside Passage waterways from the Pacific Ocean. The extensively glaciated Coast Mountains are the tallest mountains in the Stikine basin, with the highest point being Mount Ratz, above sea level. The highest points of the Stikine Plateau are generally around . The Cassiar and Omineca Mountains, rising , are also rugged but have less relief than the Coast Mountains due to their higher base elevation. The Tahltan Highland is located between the Coast Mountains and the Stikine Plateau. Drainage basins adjacent to the Stikine are the Taku River to the northwest, the Dease, Kechika and Finlay Rivers (all part of the greater Mackenzie River system) to the north and east, and the Skeena, Nass and Unuk Rivers to the south. The Stikine basin is very sparsely populated; in 2005, the entire basin was home to about 1,300 people. The only established communities are Iskut, Telegraph Creek and Bob Quinn Lake, all in British Columbia. Dease Lake is located just outside the northern edge of the basin, near the Tanzilla River. The larger towns of