The Veillet River (French: ''Rivière-à- Veillet'') is located in the municipality of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan, in the

Regional County Municipality The term regional county municipality or RCM (, , 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 regional municipality. Regional county municipalit ...

of " Les Chenaux", 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 tourism in Mauricie popular. 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 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, ...

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 ...

Geography

From its source in the moraine this river of the

Batiscanie Batiscanie, a vernacular name, of a territory located in the Mauricie region, divided between the RCMs of Les Chenaux, Portneuf and Mékinac, in Quebec, Canada. The name Batiscanie evokes, without geopositioning it, the territory of the Bati ...

flows from north-east to south-west on 11.3 km, at the foot of the large moraine (mountain line extending parallel to

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 ...

in the South-West to Nord-East direction). This river flows into the

Batiscan River Batiscan River () has its source in the region of Lac Édouard, in the Laurentians Mountains, the Batiscan River flows over a length of 177 km. It receives water from numerous tributaries, including, in its upper reach, the Rivière aux É ...

at the heart of the village of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan and empties near the church. The "Rivière à Veillet" valley covers 37,1 km². The upper valley of the river Veillet was the fourth area of colonization in

Lordship of Batiscan The Seigneurie 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 Batiscan River and the Champlain River, in the current administrative area the Maurici ...

(after the bank of St. Lawrence River, of

then rivière-à-la-Lime) at the beginning of 18th Century. The great tragedies connected to the Veillet river were debacle of 1730 that claimed the wooden bridge just a few hundred feet from the mouth and landslide of May 1, 1877 that destroyed the sawmill of Francois-Xavier Massicotte and led five loss of life.

Photos

Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan"> File:Ste Genevieve Batiscan 152.jpg , Rivière-a-Veillet, small unidentified tributary File:Ste Genevieve Batiscan 154.jpg, Rivière-a-Veillet, small unidentified tributary File:Ste Genevieve Batiscan 148.jpg, Rivière à Veillet File:Ste Genevieve Batiscan 159.jpg, River at Veillet near its mouth, from bridge 16746

Toponymy

The name "River Veillet" is derived from the military and census Jean Veillet, ancestor of all Veillet/te of America. Jean Veillet arrived in Canada in 1687 as a military troop "

Compagnies Franches de la Marine The Compagnies franches de la marine (; previously known as Troupes de la marine, later renamed and reorganized as Troupes coloniales and then Troupes de Marine) were an ensemble of autonomous infantry units attached to the French Royal Navy ( ...

" (Free Companies of Navy). After his military commitment in 1700 (and perhaps earlier), Jean Veillet held unofficially a location at the mouth of the Veillet river on East bank of

Batiscan river Batiscan River () has its source in the region of Lac Édouard, in the Laurentians Mountains, the Batiscan River flows over a length of 177 km. It receives water from numerous tributaries, including, in its upper reach, the Rivière aux É ...

in the actual the village of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan. Finally, the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

lords of the

agreed by the concession contract notarized in 1711, to cease officially this lot to Jean Veillet. That same year he also received a grant of right to cut and sell timber. Jean Veillet is one of the first forest entrepreneurs of the

. The river flows lengthwise into the Veillet land of Jean Veillet. The Church of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan was built on a plot of land belonging to the ancestor Jean Veillet. Jean Veillet was born in 1664 in Saint-André de Niort, France. He married on November 19, 1698 in Batiscan Marguerite Lariou. His military career ended at his marriage period. Jean Veillet died as of February 21, 1741, in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan. Following the death of pioneer Jean Veillet, his eldest son Jean Veillet (married in 1726 to Catherine Lefebvre) bought in 1743 from his brothers and sisters their share of the estate. Jean (son) and his wife had already acquired on January 2, 1742, from the

a concession at the

Rivière des Envies Rivière des Envies (, ) 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 in row St-Joseph, Sainte-Thècle. This ...

(Cravings river). Subsequently, the ancestral lot was transferred to Michel Veillet (husband of Josephte Normandin), grandson of the ancestor Jean Veillet. In July 1790, Michel Veillet sold his property rights on the plot of land where the church was built, and setting a 67-year-old dispute. The name "River Veillet" was formalized on August 14, 1997 in the register of place names of the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...

(Geographical Names Board of Québec).

Path of the "river à Veillet"

The "Chemin de la rivière Veillet" (Road of Veillet river) along the Veillet river is about 3.75 km. Its course began at the intersection of Church Street (rue de l'église) and "chemin des forges"; it ends at the intersection of "rang St-Augustin" (row St-Augustin) and "chemin du village Jacob" (Village Jacob Road). At this intersection, a white wooden cross was erected next to the public road. A small box attached to the cross housed a famous old ordeal that have been designed in 1827. The people residing in the depth of "Chemin de la rivière Veillet" (road of Veillet river) in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan and Gendron Creek (a tributary of the Charest River) in Saint-Prosper lived close together. Despite being subject to two separate lordships, we identified several inter-lordships marriages.

Tragedies of history

The history of Rivière-à-Veillet is marked by a series of catastrophes: major floods, floods, scree, breakage of dikes/dams, washout of bridges... The debacle of 1730 swept away the wooden bridge located at a height of hundred feet from the mouth of the mouth of the river at Veillet, or near the site of the first chapel. The bridge was rebuilt in June. The worst tragedy was that of May 1, 1877 when a scree killed five people and destroyed the flour mill. Article "La grande histoire de la Rivière à Veillet de Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan (QC)" (''The great story of the Rivière à Veillet in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan (QC)''), by Gaétan Veillette, historian and geographer, bulletin Le Pathiskan, Fall-Winter 2021-22, p. 6-19

References