Swift Current, Sask, City, pop 14 821 (2001c), 14 890 (1996c), 14 824 (1991cA), area 24.03 km2, inc 1914, is situated in southwestern Saskatchewan, 245 km west of Regina. The city took its name from a creek that flows through it and eventually empties into the South SASKATCHEWAN RIVER. Since this particular creek bore the same name as the South Saskatchewan in the 1860s, fur traders avoided confusion by referring to it as Swift Current, the English derivative of the word "Saskatchewan." In 1882 the CPR bridged the creek and established a depot at the present site.
Swift Current began to adopt the persona of a community in 1883 with the appearance of a dam, water tank, freight sheds, roadhouse and dining room. For many years it has served a large ranching, mixed-farming and grain-farming area. Oil, natural gas and manufacturing have diversified the expanding economy of the city.