Several stories exist about how Pouce Coupe got its name. One is that it came from a Beaver First Nations chief whose name was recorded as early as 1806 as Pooscapee. Another popular version is that it refers to a member of the Sekani First Nation who accidentally shot off his thumb with a muzzle loading gun and was given the French nickname "Pouce Coupe" or "Cut Thumb" by the voyageurs collecting furs near by.

European settlement of Pouce Coupe Prairie did not occur until the early 1900s, even though traders had been passing through the area for 150 years. The first non-native settler in the area was a French-Canadian named Hector Tremblay. His farm was one of the prototypes for the exhibit designers at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria when they were creating history dioramas in the 1970s. Visitors at the museum marvel at the realistic glimpse of Tremblay's farm with a slight amount of snow oin the ground.

The Peace River country, in which Pouce Coupe is located, was full of rich agricultural possibilities, but they were not fully discovered until homesteading was allowed in 1912 and more settlers began to arrive.

World War I caused a temporary halt to this influx of settlers, but after hostilities ceased in Europe the Soldiers' Settlement Board established veterans here, giving a boost to the population. The plan was accelerated by the new Edmonton, Dunvegan and BC Railway that had been constructed from Edmonton to Grand Prairie in 1916. Pouce Coupe was near the end of the line for the Northern Alberta Railway (NAR) which arrived in town in 1931. The former NAR station is now home to the Pouce Coupe Museum. In nearby Kiskatinaw Park stands another heritage landmark: the last remaining wooden NAR trestle, built in 1931.

Today farming, petroleum, logging and tourism are the important economic generators in Pouce Coupe.

Resources:

Pouce Coupe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pouce_Coupe,_British_Columbia

Gordon E. Bowes, ed., Peace River Chronicles, Prescott Publishing Company, Vancouver, 1963.