Katepwa sits on the eastern and southern shores of Katepwa Lake in the Qu'Appelle Valley, the last in the chain of four Fishing Lakes. The name likely comes from the Cree word Kahtapwao, meaning "What is calling?" Legend has it that spirits lived along the shore and First Nations people would hear voices on the lake. The valley itself was shaped by retreating glaciers about 14,000 years ago, and people may have lived here as early as eleven thousand years ago. When settlers arrived, the Assiniboine and Cree were the most prominent groups in the area.
Fort Qu'Appelle became a Hudson's Bay trading post in 1864, and a mission opened at St. Florent, today's Lebret, the next year. After 1870, Métis leaving Manitoba moved into the valley, and the first farmers, among them John Lauder, soon followed. All Saints' Anglican Church was built in 1886 in a small settlement then called Lauder's Town, on land Lauder donated, and its churchyard holds many original settlers. A brick factory operated at the end of the lake until about 1908.
Picnics, boating and fishing soon made the lake a summer destination. Several subdivisions were surveyed from 1911 on, and by 1914 the Katepwa Beach Syndicate was subdividing the land where the village now stands. The resort grew to include a hotel, tea room, dance hall, boat rental and an 18-hole golf course. Adelaide Hemstreet opened the Sunset Inn Tea Room in 1912 and added rental cabins. The hotel burned in May 1977 and was rebuilt by July 1.
Katepwa Beach, Katepwa South and Sandy Beach joined in 2004 to form the Resort Village of the District of Katepwa. Today it is known for its beach, Katepwa Point Provincial Park, year-round fishing and a well-regarded nine-hole golf course.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Katepwa” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.