The Maskinongé River is located north of the administrative region of

Lanaudière Lanaudière (, ) is one of the seventeen administrative regions of Quebec, Canada, situated immediately to the northeast of Montreal. It has a total population ( 2016 Census) of 494,796 inhabitants, an increase of 4.9% over the 2011 census. Geogr ...

and west of 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 tourism in Mauricie popular. The region has a land area of 35,860.05 km2 (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...

, in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The river has a total length of 40 km. It takes its source in

Maskinongé Lake Maskinongé may refer to: * Maskinongé, Quebec * Maskinongé Regional County Municipality * Maskinongé (Province of Canada), an electoral district 1853–1867 * Maskinongé (federal electoral district), in Quebec 1867–1925 * Maskinongé (provin ...

, located in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. It crosses the municipalities of Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, Saint-Gabriel, and Saint-Didace in the region of

; then Saint-Justin,

Louiseville Louiseville () is a Types of municipalities in Quebec, town in the Mauricie Quebec region, region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. It is located near the mouth of the 'Rivière-du-Loup', on the north shor ...

, and Maskinongé before pour into the north shore of

Lake Saint-Pierre Lake Saint Pierre (, ; ) is a lake in Quebec, Canada, a widening of the Saint Lawrence River between Sorel-Tracy and Trois-Rivières. It is located downstream, and northeast, of Montreal; and upstream, and southwest, of Quebec City. The end of t ...

at the height of this municipality.

Toponymy

The name of the river comes from the

muskellunge The muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), often shortened to muskie, musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name ...

("Esox masquinongy"), a species of

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Its name comes from the

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and means "deformed pike".

Geography

Course

The Maskinongé River begins its course at an altitude of 142 m in lake of the same name. It then flows south-east for a distance of 52 km and flows into the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

at Maskinongé altitude of 3 m. It has two major gradients: the

Lauzon Falls Lauzon may refer to: Places * the former , in colonial French New France * Lauzon, Quebec, a Canadian former city, merged into Lévis * three southeastern French rivers in the Rhône basin: ** a direct left-bank tributary of the Rhône ** a ...

where it drops from 30 m and the Saint-Ursula Falls where it drops from 70 m.

Geology

The upstream section of the Sainte-Ursule Falls is part of the

Laurentides The Laurentides (, ) is a region of Quebec. While it is often called the Laurentians in English, the region includes only part of the Laurentian Mountains. It has a total land area of and its population was 589,400 inhabitants as of the 2016 C ...

, a section of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

. The latter formed a billion years ago and was probably as high as the Himalayas. A slow erosion process has brought it back to its current level. The downstream section is part of the St. Lawrence Platform.

Population

The basin was inhabited by a unit of 14,000 people in 2006. The largest urban agglomeration in the basin is the town of Saint-Gabriel, which is located on the shore of Lake Maskinongé.

Natural environment

Over forty species of

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

are found in the Maskinongé River and its tributaries. The main sporting species are the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and the muskellunge (fish) (''Esox masquinongy''). There are also the

red knight Red Knight (, , ) is a title borne by several characters in the Arthurian legend. Legend Tales of Perceval The Red Knight prominently appears in the tales of the hero Perceval as his early enemy. * In Chrétien de Troyes' ''Perceval, the Stor ...

(''Moxostoma macrolepidotum''),

Ambloplites rupestris The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (Ce ...

, brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), Semotilus corporalis, Perca flavescens, the horned mule, 'Semotilus atromaculatus', black sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') and brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'').

History

The Attikameks used the Maskinongé River as a route from

Matawinie Matawinie () is a regional county municipality in the region of Lanaudière in southwestern Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Rawdon. The population according to the 2021 Canadian Census was 55,500. Subdivisions There are 27 subdivisions within the ...

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

. In 1700, French settlers began settling in Maskinongé. As for Lake Maskinongé, the first settlers settled there in 1818. The north of the basin was occupied from 1880 by the club Mastigouche, a private club of hunting and fishing. This was nationalized in the 1970s and integrated into the Mastigouche Wildlife Reserve and the Nymphs' Nest.

Notes and references

Sources

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