[4] 'Cut Knife' is named after a Sarcee chief who was killed in a skirmish with the Cree near the area in the 1840s.

[5] In March 1885, Chief Poundmaker[6] and fellow Cree band members travelled to Battleford in search of supplies and rations for famine relief.

In response, Lieutenant-Colonel William Otter and nearly 400 men were dispatched to attack Poundmaker.

Otter and his forces retreated back across Cut Knife Creek and returned to Battleford.

[12] From Saline Creek, the river winds itself back west then turns north into the Poundmaker Cree Nation.