Possibly named for William Wasborough Foster [1872-1954], a major-general in the Canadian Army and accomplished alpinist, member of the party to make the official first ascent of Mount Robson in 1913. Foster immigrated to Canada in 1894 to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway before becoming B.C.’s deputy minister of public works in 1910.

The British Columbia Archives has a photograph of the Foster Creek rapids on the Columbia River taken in 1915 during a canoe trip made in by John Preston Forde, a civil engineer with the C.P.R., assistant Captain F. P. Armstrong, and 15 year old G. B. Forde. The purpose of the trip was to examine the possibilities of navigation on the Columbia. The party travelled from Robson, B.C., to Beverly, Washington, by canoe and then onwards by train and steamer to Astoria. However, it’s unclear whether Robson in this case refers to the mountain or the community at the junction of Columbia and Kootenay rivers, opposite Castlegar. Forde was assistant public works engineer for B.C. from 1911 to 1912, while W. W. Foster was deputy minister.