Missionary Lake ormerly named "Grand lac long" (Grand Long Lake)is located in the municipalities of Trois-Rives and

Lac-aux-Sables Lac-aux-Sables is a parish municipality in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality (MRC de Mékinac), in administrative district of the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. Its population centres are Lac-aux-Sables and Hervey ...

in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality (RCM), in

Batiscanie Batiscanie is the watershed of the Batiscan River, located in the center of the province of Quebec, Canada, covering 4690 km² on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence River. The area covered by Batiscanie is 53% in the administrative région o ...

, in the administrative area of the

Mauricie Mauricie () is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

, in the

province of Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is named in honour of missionary and explorer

Paul Le Jeune Paul Le Jeune (1591–1664) was a French Jesuit missionary in New France. He served as the Superior of the Jesuits in the French colony of Canada from 1632 to 1639. During his tenure, he began a mission at Trois-Rivières, founded the community ...

, one of the founders of the Jesuit mission that was opened in 1634 in nearby

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, Quebec.

History

In Aboriginal history, the Mekinac River and Missionary Lake together served as paths between the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (french: Rivière Saint-Maurice; Atikamekw: ''Tapiskwan sipi'') flows north to south in central Quebec from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. F ...

and

Batiscan River The Batiscan River is located in La Mauricie administrative region, in the Quebec province, Canada. This river flows from Lake Édouard in Mauricie south and west to empty into the St. Lawrence River at Batiscan, Quebec, northeast of Trois-Rivi ...

. In winter, this route was also very useful for forest contractors using horse-drawn sleighs to access logging areas around Missionary Lake or Mekinac Lake. The need for this path for forestry was greatly reduced when a railway was completed in 1908 in the nearby Tawachiche sector connecting Hervey-Jonction to

La Tuque La Tuque (; ) is a city located in north-central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. The population was 11,227 at the Canada 2011 Census, most of which live within the urban area. At over 28,000 sq ...

. Today, this Mekinac/Missionary route is used recreationally by snowmobiles and ATVs between early December and late March. In 1938, the Groleau Company built a sawmill at the south end of Missionary Lake, 4.3 km from Hervey-Jonction. On June 27, 1955, the mill was destroyed by a fire. It was rebuilt in the village of

Sainte-Thècle Sainte-Thècle is a Canadian municipality located in the province of Quebec in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality, in the Batiscanie watershed, in the administrative region of Mauricie. This municipality of 216 square kilometres is known ...

, opposite the train station and next to the Groleau factory. Today, the region's economy is based on tourism and forestry. The area is suitable for

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

, water activities, nature observation and gathering wild fruit.

Geography

Missionary Lake is divided into two parts, north and south, which are interconnected by Groleau Strait which is 0.77 km in length. The southern part of Missionary Lake discharges into the northern part of the lake through the Groleau Strait. Small boats can navigate through the southern entrance to the strait. There is a wider channel of about 0.5 km long in the middle portion of the strait, but the strait otherwise is difficult to navigate, being narrow and shallow in places with stones at the bottom. The northern part of the strait entry requires a portage with a canoe. A bridge spans the strait at its northern portion to serve the cottages located on the northeast shore of the lake. The south part of Missionary Lake is located partly in the municipality of

(5th and 6th Row Price) and partly in Trois-Rives (from 1st row N.-E. to 5e row N.-E.). The Trois-Rives section was part of the unorganized region of Lac-Masketsi until August 28, 2004. The southern part of the lake is elongated along the north-south axis, with a length of 5.1 km and a maximum width of 0.5 km. The southern part of the lake is accessible by road from Hervey-Jonction's sector (in the municipality of Lac-aux-Sables), connected by Lac en coeur Road to Missionary Lake Road which runs along the south-western part of the lake. Missionary Lake Road continues beyond the Groleau strait, along the southwestern bank of North Missionary lake. The northern part of Missionary Lake is elongated along the north-south axis, measuring 7.1 km in length and 1.2 km wide. Its discharge, at the northwest end of the lake, flows north and west 3.18 km to

Mékinac Lake The Mékinac Lake is a large lake of freshwater of province of Quebec (Canada), located mainly in the municipality Trois-Rives, in Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, in Ca ...

through several smaller lakes, the largest of which is Lac à la Puce. It discharges into

, just upstream of the dam at the mouth of the latter lake. The northern part of Missionary Lake is accessible by road from the village of Saint-Joseph-de-Mékinac in the Municipality of Trois-Rives, north along Lake Mékinac Road 8.5 km, then along Missionary Lake Road for 4.2 km.

Toponymy

The name "Missionary Lake" was chosen to honour the Jesuit missionary

who came from France, and is one of the founders of the mission

in 1634 and Ville-Marie (

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

) in 1642.

was a great explorer of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

after the founding of

. In the region of

, several sites are associated with his life's work: Canton Lejeune, Lac Lejeune and

Lake Jesuit The Lake Jesuit (popularly designated "Little Long Lake") is located in the Lejeune Township, in the municipality of Sainte-Thècle, in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality in the Batiscanie, in the administrative region of Mauricie in the ...

. In

Saint-Tite Saint-Tite is a town in the province of Quebec, Canada, north of Trois-Rivières, in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality (RCM) and in the Mauricie administrative region. In the 19th Century, the Batiscanie economy was mainly founded on f ...

, the

École secondaire Paul Le Jeune École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

(High School) which opened in 1969, also pays tribute to the missionary. The name "Missionary Lake" was recorded on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of place names of

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

History

Geography

Toponymy

See also

Related articles

References