Baie-Johan-Beetz, Quebec

Baie-Johan-Beetz is a municipality located near the mouth of the Piashti River on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the Côte-Nord region, Minganie RCM, Quebec, Canada.

History

In 1854, Joseph Tanguay, originally from Berthier, settled at the Little Watshishou River.
Tanguay and his sons fished mostly for salmon on the Piashti, Corneille, Petite Watshishou, Watshishou and Quetachou rivers.

In 1862 Tanguay moved to Baie Piashti. Other early settlers came from the Magdalen Islands. The place was originally identified as "Piastre Bay", from the Innu expression ''piashite-pets'', meaning "there where the water passes over/on top", or possibly originating from the word ''piashtibé'', meaning "dry bay" or "where the water rises", which is a reference to the local bay that during low tide runs dry.

In 1897, Johan Beetz (1874-1949), a Belgian aristocrat, with training in the natural sciences and medicine, immigrated there, and on 27 September 1898, married Adéla Tanguay (1884-1954), daughter of Sébastien Tanguay, a fisherman, and Marie-Louise (Henriette) Arseneault, 11 children were born of this union.
Beetz built a Second Empire-inspired rural residence that residents today call ''Le Château'' ("the castle"). He hunted, fished, and trapped with the local villagers and raised foxes for their fur. He was a naturalist and ornithologist, and made numerous studies and hand drawings. He also invented a mummification process for preserving animal bodies. The many activities of Johan Beetz brought considerable impetus to the socio-economic development of the locality and that of the North Shore.

The family lived in Piastre Baie until 1922 when they moved to Ville Saint-Laurent.

Toponymy

The bay's name was spelled in a variety of ways, including Piashti Bay, Pillage Bay, Baie-de-Pillage, Piastibe, Piashte Bay, and Piestebé. Perhaps for this reason, its residents expressed a desire to change the village's name to Baie-Johan-Beetz in 1910.

The Piastre Baie was renamed in 1914, but the name was not officially adopted until 1965, when the place was incorporated.

Watshishou migratory bird sanctuary

Located approximately 40 kilometers west of Natashquan, this 10,673 hectare refuge extends over a little more than 23 kilometers along the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the municipality of Baie-Johan-Beetz, and partly in Aguanish and the Mingan Archipelago National Park reserve.

The Wastishou Migratory Bird Sanctuary
includes Pontbriand, Jalobert and Pashashibou bays, all islands, islets and emerging rocks in the area, as well as the offshore waters over a distance of several kilometers from the coast. In fact, the waters cover almost 90% of the refuge's surface area. Vegetation is limited to a few species of moss and lichens, because the terrestrial part of the refuge is mainly made up of rocky outcrops.

Birds

The common eider is the most abundant, the double-crested cormorant is the second most commonly found species, the third most numerous species within this sanctuary is the herring gull.
*Somateria mollissima. — Eider à duvet. — (Common Eider).
* Phalacrocorax auritus. — Cormoran à aigrettes. — (Double-crested cormorant).
* Larus argentatus. — Goéland argenté. — (Herring gull).

Bird species present in smaller numbers also benefit from this sanctuary:
* Sterna paradisaea. — Sterne arctique. — (Arctic tern).
*Sterna hirundo. — Sterne pierregarin. — (Common stern).
* Gavia stellata. — Plongeon catmarin. — (Red-throated loon).
*Gavia immer. — Plongeon huard. — (Common loon).
* Anas rubripes. — Canard noir. — (American black duck).
*Mergus serrator. — Harle huppé. — (Red-breasted merganser).Melanitta deglandi. — Macreuse à ailes blanches. — White-winged scoter).
*Melanitta perspicillata. — Macreuse à front blanc ou Macreuse à lunettes. — (Surf scoter).
*Melanitta americana. — Macreuse à bec jaune. — (Black Scoter).
Pontbriand river and Pontbriand bay">
File:Baie Johan Beetz 012.jpg, River, rocky outcrop of the Canadian Shield
File:Baie Johan Beetz 013.jpg, Mouth of the river, some 20 km east in Baie-Johan-Beetz (Municipality)
File:Baie Johan Beetz 014.jpg, Mouth of the river and rest area from the bridge on Route 138
File:Baie Johan Beetz 017.jpg, Mouth of the river, in the bay, in Gulf of St. Lawrence
File:Baie Johan Beetz 021.jpg, Pontbriand Bay in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Demographics

Population

Language

Climate

Cultural heritage

The Johan-Beetz House, a Second Empire-inspired rural residence built in 1899, dominates the landscape of a rocky promontory jutting into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the Piashti River. Listed in the Quebec Cultural Heritage directory, this property is classified as a heritage building. The protection applies to the exterior and interior of the building, and not to the land.

Wooden sidewalks, in 1987, a study by Ministry of Transport Quebec mentioned:

''…there are more than 600 m of continuous wooden sidewalks along the existing road in Baie-Johan-Beetz. The dismantling of the wooden sidewalks would constitute a loss for local heritage.''

In 2020, a municipal regulation recommends rebuilding these picturesque elements that are an integral part of the landscape.

''… Not so long ago, the entire village of Baie-Johan-Beetz was crisscrossed by a network of wooden sidewalks. Much of this network has disappeared over time but a few remain. It is important to restore and highlight these wooden sidewalks''.

Cultural