Kapuskasing - Etymology

Etymology

The town of Kapuskasing gets its name from the Kapuskasing River, which was so named long before the existence of the town. Kapuskasing is a word of Cree origin and its true meaning has been the question of debate. A long established local belief suggests the word Kapuskasing means "Bend in River".

The first reported survey of the district in which Kapuskasing lies was carried out in 1875 by Dr. Robert Bell of the Geological Survey of Canada. He referred to the Kapuskasing River as the "Kai-bush-ka-sing". According to Bell's information, the Kapuskasing River derived its name from the lake at its head.

In 1900, the Bureau of Colonization of the Ontario Department of Agriculture sent parties to survey the north of the Canadian Pacific Railway between the Quebec border and Lake Nipigon. Their main interest was to seek out and delimit areas for further agricultaural settlements that would give Ontario a new farming frontier to offset the attraction of the western prairies.

In 1900, the Department of Crown Lands commissioned a Survey of Exploration of Northern Ontario. Survey parties were sent out to explore, document and report back to the Province on the various resources of water-power, timber etc. that might be available for exploitation. No roads existed, but northern Cree Indians and fur traders had used the local rivers connecting to James Bay for centuries. In the summer of 1900 groups of surveyors traveled the many rivers of this remote area documenting their findings. The results were published by order of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as "Report of the Survey of Exploration of Northern Ontario 1900". The section of the report detailing exploration of the Kapuskasing River contains references to the local Cree names for Sturgeon Falls, White Spruce Rapids, Kapuskasing River and Big Beaver Falls among others. Surveyors who explored the Kapuskasing River and tributaries in 1900 had local Cree guides familiar with the country who provided the local place names and their meanings to them. In this report the word Kapuskasing is said to mean "Whispering Water".

At the location where the CNR crossed the Kapuskasing River in 1910 there was an island in the centre of the river. Power and storage dams were built at that location in 1923. Prior to the dam construction the rapids at that location was known as "White Spruce Rapids" and later known simply as "Spruce Falls". The first Spruce Falls Company of 1920 took its name from these rapids.