The Marquette West River is a tributary of the

Marquette River Marquette River is a tributary of Ashuapmushuan Lake, flowing into the unorganized territory of Lac-Ashuapmushuan, Quebec, into the Regional County Municipality (RCM) of Le Domaine-du-Roy, in the administrative region from Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jea ...

, flowing into the unorganized territory of

Lac-Ashuapmushuan, Quebec Lac-Ashuapmushuan is an unorganized territory in the Canadian province of Quebec, Canada, located in the regional county municipality of Le Domaine-du-Roy. The region had a population of 140 as of the Canada 2021 Census, and covered a land a ...

, in the

Regional County Municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, MRC'') is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county r ...

(RCM) of

Le Domaine-du-Roy Le Domaine-du-Roy ''(The King's Domain)'' is a regional county municipality in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. Its seat is in Roberval, and it is named for the King of France, who owned the land at the time of the coloniz ...

, in the administrative region of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, in

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 thirtee ...

, in

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 ...

. The Marquette West River flows successively into the townships of Huard, Buade, Poutrincourt and Cramahé. The course of this river is located west of the Ashuapmushuan Wildlife Reserve. Forestry is the main economic activity of this valley; recreational tourism activities, second. The forest road R0212 (East-West direction) intersects the middle section of the Marquette River West. The route 167 linking

Chibougamau Chibougamau () is the largest town in Nord-du-Québec, central Quebec, Canada. Located on Lake Gilman it has a population of 7,504 people (2016 Canadian Census). Chibougamau is surrounded by, but not part of, the local municipality of Eeyou Istc ...

Saint-Félicien, Quebec Saint-Félicien is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec. The town is located within the Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Its population as of 2021 is 10,089. Geography The municipality is ...

passes on the north-east side of the Normandin River and on the Northeast of

Ashuapmushuan Lake Ashuapmushuan Lake is a freshwater body of the Lac-Ashuapmushuan, Quebec unorganized territory of the Regional County Municipality (MRC) Le Domaine-du-Roy, north-west of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean administrative region, in province of Quebec, Canada. ...

. The surface of the Marquette West River is usually frozen from early November to mid-May, however, safe ice movement is generally from mid-November to mid-April.

Geography

Toponymy

This hydronym evokes the work of life of Jacques Marquette (Laon, France, 1637 - near Luddington, Michigan, 1675). He was a Jesuit missionary and explorer. He first studied Amerindian languages, then he devoted himself to various missions including the Outaouais; in 1671, he founded the mission of Saint-Ignace, among the Wendat (Hurons), on the north shore of

Michilimakinac Strait Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire r ...

. In 1672, he met

Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore an ...

with whom he would reach the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. He will explore this river to the present border of Arkansas and Louisiana. Wanting to start a mission with the Kaskaskias in the land of Illinois, Father Marquette reluctantly relinquishes it because of illness. The toponym "Rivière Marquette Ouest" was formalized on March 28, 1972, at the

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 ...

.Commission de toponymie du Quebec - Bank of Place Names - Toponyme: "Marquette River"

Geography

Toponymy

Notes and references

See also