Point Riou

Point Riou in Detail.

extends SW into Gulf of Alaska, near S entrance of Icy Bay, 64 mi. NW of Yakutat, Malaspina Coastal Plain.

Named by Vancouver (1798, v. 3, p. 204) June 28, 1794, probably in honor of Edward Riou, midshipman of the Third Cook Expedition. Tebenkof (1852, map 7) calls it "Nizmennoi," meaning "low" although he also includes, beneath the name, the Russian transliteration of Riou, which is shown on later Russian Hydrographic Dept. charts as Rio. This may also be the point of land the La Perouse map shows as "Pointe de Boussole" although some authorities feel the name applies to what is now called "Cape Manby." La Perouse appears not to have mentioned "Pointe de Boussole" in his text which would indicate that the name was added when the map was drawn later in Paris (Wagner, 1937, p. 434). The Boussole was one of La Perouse's ships.