The hamlet Matawin River (popularly designated "Mattawin") is located on the east bank of 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 ...

, in Trois-Rives, in

Mékinac Regional County Municipality Mékinac () is a regional county municipality (MRC) in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Saint-Tite. It is composed of 10 municipalities and 4 unorganized territories. Toponymy According to th ...

, in

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

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 ...

. In the past, Matawin River was a municipality. Today, the territory of Matawin hamlet is a sector incorporated to the municipality of Trois-Rives.

Geography

More specifically, this hamlet is located in Row II (South West), in the former

Lordship of Batiscan The Lordship of Batiscan was located on, and included 1/2 ''lieue'' of frontage along, the north shore of the St. Lawrence River (between the mouth of the Batisan and Champlain Rivers, in the current administrative area the Mauricie) in the prov ...

. This hamlet is positioned in front of the Matawin island, 3.8 km upstream of the Five Island, 8.2 km upstream legendary Manigonce rapids and 18.4 km upstream of the mouth the

Mékinac River The Mékinac river is a located in the RCM Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Mauricie, the province of Quebec, in Canada. This river of Middle Mauricie has played an important role in the forestry industry at ...

. The mouth of the river Matawin is located one kilometer south of the island Matawin the

.Geographical measures were calculated by the historian Gaétan Veillette (Saint-Hubert, QC) using a map of 1988 from "Service mapping of the Ministry of Energy and Resources", Government of Quebec. Due to its geographical position, along

Quebec route 155 Route 155 is a north/south highway on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its northern terminus is in Chambord at the junction of Route 169, and the southern terminus is the Piles Bridge in Shawinigan. Previously the ...

, halfway between Grand-Mère and

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 ...

, this resort offers access to various wildlife areas such as the

Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve The Saint-Maurice Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife reserve to the north of Shawinigan, Quebec. The reserve is located west of the Saint-Maurice River in the territory of the Mekinac Regional County Municipality. Like all wildlife reserves, this ...

. Several providers offer hosting services and tourist activities.

History

The colonization of the territory began in the mid of 19th century, when the logging rights begin to be granted in Middle and Upper Mauricie by 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 ...

. Forestry has been the engine of Matawin economic development. In the 20th century, tourist activities (

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 ...

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

snowmobiles A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

, observations of nature...) have grown considerably. In 1993, a bridge crossing

, was built near the mouth of Matawin River, in order to give access to

zec du Chapeau-de-Paille The ZEC Chapeau de Paille is a "zone d'exploitation contrôlée" (controlled harvesting zone) (zec), located in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality, in administrative region of Mauricie, in Quebec (Canada). This Zec which was created in 1978 ...

and to

. This new bridge replaced the old ferry. In 1996, the

was the last river of 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 ...

to stop the transportation of timber by flotation on water. For nearly 150 years, forest companies have used the current of the river and its tributaries for timber transportation. Before being stacked on the ice in Upper-Mauricie, logs were identified in order to be recovered easily downstream, at different "baunes" crossing the river, including at

, Grandes-Piles, Grand-Mère,

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

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 ...

. The end of the log drives on the river led to a rapid expansion of water activities. At the beginning of the colonization of the area, pioneers were mainly established on the west bank of the

, because of the quality of land for agriculture. The construction of the road from Grand-Mère to

rather attracted families to settle on the eastern shore. The name Matawin refers to the river of the same name.

Geography

History

See also

Related articles

References

External links