Nicolum River flows northwest through the mountainous terrain of the southern central
interior of British Columbia; it and connects to the Coquihalla River just east of Hope.
Famous map-maker Arrowsmith spells it as “Nkalaoum River” on a map from 1862,1 and this map from 1862, drawn by one J. Conroy, Royal Engineer, shows a “Nicolumne R”.
Perhaps this is the river referred to by Douglas in this correspondence, from 1860, as the “Ballomme River”, which was intended to be part of a route through
to the Similkameen Valley, a distance of 60 miles. How and why Douglas assigned the name of “Ballomme” is not clear.
1. Nicolum River,BC Geographical Names Information System.