The Lake Traverse (also referred to as "Lake Travers" or "Traverse Lake") is located in the northern area 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 ...

, in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of

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 ...

. Lake Traverse is part of the

Batiscanie, Quebec 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 ...

. It is the head of

Rivière des Envies Rivière des Envies (River of cravings, in a direct translation) is located in Canada, in the province of Quebec, in the Mauricie administrative region, in the Batiscanie. Rivière des Envies course from the outlet of Lac-de-la-Traverse, located ...

which flows South into

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 ...

Geography

The distance between the bridge of

Croche Lake (Sainte-Thècle) Croche Lake (french: Lac Croche) is located in Sainte-Thècle, in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in Mauricie, in Quebec, Canada. From the beginning of the colonization of Sainte-Thècle (from 1867), the area around the lake was use ...

, located in the lower village of

and the mouth of Lake Traverse is (measured by road). From the village, the road trip is: Saint-Michel-North road, Marcotte road, St. Joseph North road, then the

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 ...

road. In addition, the "road of the Lake Traverse" (hence the path of

road) dessert cottages on the west side of the lake. Lake Traverse is located in the North Row B (referred to as "row of Lake Traverse" or "Row Saint-Joseph") in

, which forms the northern boundary of the

Lordship of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade The Lordship of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade was located on the north shore of St. Lawrence river, between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City in the province of Quebec, Canada. The southern front of the manor was on the edge of St. Lawrence river. The d ...

. This lake is located at the foot of

Laurentian Mountains The Laurentian Mountains ( French: ''Laurentides'') are a mountain range in southern Quebec, Canada, north of the St. Lawrence River and Ottawa River, rising to a highest point of at Mont Raoul Blanchard, northeast of Quebec City in the Laurentid ...

, at the limit of

St. Lawrence Valley The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting t ...

. Thus, northern agricultural zone ends at Lake Traverse. While the northwest area of Lake Traverse is entirely a forest area and generally mountainous. Lake Traverse has three areas, separated by peninsulas. The area to the west with a length of , contains the source and the mouth (south area), the central area of and small area east of . While the width of the lake is (covering 3 zones).

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the Canadian province of Quebec, as well as the export of power to portions of the Northeast United States. It was established by the ...

power lines across the lake, north-east to south-west. Several cottages were built in the vicinity of the lake.

Toponymy

Formerly, before the construction of "Government Road" around the lake by the west side, the "lake Traverse" was a key issue to access woodlots upstream (north), located in the

Lejeune Township The Lejeune Township (french: Canton Lejeune) is located in the MRC Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in Mauricie, Quebec, Canada. Geography Located south of Mekinac Township and west of Marmier Township, Lejeune township straddles two munic ...

. Winter roads (December to March) allowed the owners of forest lots and forestry contractors to cross the lake on the ice with their cars drawn by horses. In the Spring, boats (or rafts driven by "cageux") allowed the workers to cross the lake, from the sawmill sector. The floating wood tronc on the lake supplied the sawmill at the mouth. A boat pulled the wood on the lake with a "baune" (floating cable) to bring stranded, downstream from the bridge of the landfill. The name "Lake Traverse" was formalized on December 5, 1968, in the Bank of place names in

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 ...

(Geographical Names Board of Québec)

History

In 1882, the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

began the construction of the road of Row B North (called row of Lake St. Joseph or row of Lake Traverse) in

, along the road of row St-Georges. These two new routes gave a new impetus to the colonization. Historically, the topography of the valley of the discharge of

and around Lake Traverse allowed access to

, located in the northwestern territory of

. However, the trip was difficult because of several rocky headland which were finally dynamited gradually in the 1960s and 1970s. Sawmill Saint-Amand At the mouth of Lake Traverse, Alfred Saint-Amand (married to Julie Gregory) operated a sawmill from 1902 to 1932, powered by water. This mill was continued by his son Adélard Saint-Amand, and then by his grandson, son Rolland Saint-Amand In addition, Frank Blais operated a sawmill at Lake Travers. Bridge at the mouth The first public bridge over the

rivière des Envies Rivière des Envies (River of cravings, in a direct translation) is located in Canada, in the province of Quebec, in the Mauricie administrative region, in the Batiscanie. Rivière des Envies course from the outlet of Lac-de-la-Traverse, located ...

at the end of 19th Century, at the mouth of Lake Traverse is the so-called "chemin du gouvernement" (government road). This public bridge was located close (upstream) of the sawmill of Alfred Saint-Amand. The first wooden bridge of the municipality of the parish at the mouth of Lake Traverse was built around 1933, for only one lane. The bridge was rebuilt in 1950 for two lanes. While the private mill bridge (originally built of wood in 1912 and rebuilt approximately every ten years) was located downstream of the mill. This bridge was replaced in 1958 by a much stronger bridge. Sugar shacks The Lake Traverse saw many sugar shacks. Louis Bédard operated a sugar shack in around 1900 on the other side of the lake. Arthur Perron continued to operate the cabin on a lot later owned by Rolland Cossette. Samuel Bédard also had a cabin on a lot sold to Joseph Plamondon. Finally Réjean Bédard owned this lot. Alfred Huot taped maples on a lot that he sold to Odinat Huot; this lot was subsequently acquired by Rolland Béland. George Bacon also operated a sugar shack in this area, a lot was later acquired by Leandre Trudel. Other operators of sugarhouse were "Pit" Grenier, and Louis Toupin, and was later acquired by Lucien Toupin.Gaétan Veillette, article»sugar shacks (north half of

)», published on May 26, 1976 in Journal Le Dynamique (published in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traverse, lake Lakes of Mauricie Mékinac Regional County Municipality

Geography

Toponymy

History

See also

References