[5] Kakabeka Falls, located on this river, is the largest waterfall in the Lake Superior watershed at a height of 47 metres (154 ft).

During the French regime, two fur trading posts were established at the delta of the Kaministiquia, the first by Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (1684/85-1696)[7] and a second one in 1717 by Zacharie Robutel de la Noue.

Both are now usually referred to as "Fort Kaministiquia" because of the large number of variant spellings used during the French regime, such as Kamanistigouian, Camanistigoyan, Kaministigoyan, etc.

Following the opening of the United States canal and locks at Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, in 1855, the river became more accessible to navigation.

Silt had created a sand bar at its principal mouth, such that dredging was required as early as 1873 to enable larger boats to venture farther upstream.

The double-deck Jackknife Bascule Bridge was built by the CPR in 1913 to allow trains and vehicles to cross from the mainland to Mission Island.

The three branches of the river at the delta were extensively dredged and widened by the federal Department of Public Works in the early twentieth century to facilitate navigation.

In the summer of 1798 Roderick McKenzie, the cousin of Alexander Mackenzie, met a group of Indians on the Height of Land Portage, who showed him the Kaministiquia route.

The Kaministiquia and Grand Portage were the two main routes used by Canadian fur traders to travel to western Canada from the Great Lakes.