Kalkaska County, Michigan: History
Kalkaska County, originally named Wabassee County (from waabizii meaning swan in Ojibwe) was separated from Michilimackinac County in 1840, renamed in 1843. In 1851, Kalkaska County was attached to Grand Traverse County for legal purposes. The first settler in Kalkaska County was William Copeland, from England, who purchased land in the northwest corner of the county in 1855. Kalkaska County was organized in its own right on January 27, 1871. Crawford County was then temporarily attached to Kalkaska County for legal purposes.
The county's name is a pseudo-Native American neologism coined by Henry Schoolcraft, a Michigan geographer and ethnologist.
Some theorists suggest this is word play. Schoolcraft's family name had been Calcraft, and the Ks may have been added to make the name appear more like a Native American word.
Alternatively, the name may be derived from a Chippewa word meaning flat or burned-over country.