The Magog River, or Sekosonotek in

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...

, is a river that drains

Lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

. It is a small river running through the territories of the cities of Magog and

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

, in the administrative region of

Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...

, 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 ...

. It runs along a southwest–northeast axis. Having its source in

lake Memphremagog Lake Memphremagog (; , ) is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport (city), Vermont, Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake spans both Quebec and Vermont, but is mostly in Quebec. Most of the watershed th ...

, it crosses lake Magog and empties into

Saint-François River The Saint-François River (, ) is a right tributary of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. Its source is Lake Saint-François in Chaudière-Appalaches, southeast of Thetford Mines. It flows southwest towards Sherbrooke, where it changes ...

, in the city center of

. The cities of

and Magog, Quebec lie on the Magog River. Engineers from the

Université de Sherbrooke The Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS; Quebec English, English: ''University of Sherbrooke'') is a French-language Public university, public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the Mont ...

have constructed a plastic bridge on the river.

Geography

The Magog course begins in the city center of the municipality of the same name. This departure, located at of altitude, constitutes the only spillway of

, the Magog river drawing its source via the various tributaries of this large lake, until beyond the country's border to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Thus, including in particular the collection areas of the various small rivers that will follow its course, the Magog hydrographic basin covers an approximate area of . At the first kilometer and a half of its route, there is a first

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, named Memphrémagog, followed by the collection of a first stream (km 4.1), named the

Red stream Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. Downstream from this, a second

(km 5.6), named La Grande-Dame is then interposed, then the river ends in the lake Magog (km 9.8). At the level of this long lake, the body of water receives brook Noir at its southern end and Red Brook at its northern end. The Magog River then resumes its normal course via a small interstice at the northeastern end of the lake (km 16.3). The river continues its route collecting water from the Grass Island stream (km 18.5), Gordon (km 19.4) streams, before being interrupted again by the presence of

Rock Forest dam Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

(km 19.6). Subsequently, the Magog collects water from the streams

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

(km 21.5) Dodds (km 23), reaches the

Drummond dam Drummond may refer to: Places Antarctica * Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land * Drummond Glacier, Graham Land Canada * Drummond (federal electoral district), a Quebec federal riding * Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec ...

(km 25), before widening to form

lac des Nations Lac des Nations is an artificial lake located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It was created during the construction of a hydroelectric dam used to power the old Patton Co factory. Fed by the Magog River, it is at the heart of the Cité des Riviè ...

(km 29.1), in the heart of

. The river then plunges into a deep gorge, beyond the Paton dam (km 30.4), with a declination of , over a distance of approximately , overlapping at the same time two other dams ( Frontenac, and Abénaquis, ), before finishing its course in the

, at of altitude. The total length of the river, including the portion of

lac Magog Lake Magog is a freshwater lake located in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It is bordered by three municipalities: Sherbrooke, Magog and Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley. Located in the Appalachian geological province, Lake Magog consists of sed ...

, is therefore , on a drop of and flows mainly along an axis south-west, north-east.

Toponymy

The Abenakis designate this watercourse under the name of: "Pskasewantekw" or "Pskusewantegw", meaning "the river which makes detours".Commission de toponymie du Québec - Bank of place names - Toponym: "Rivière Magog"
/ref> The toponym "rivière Magog" was made official on December 5, 1968 at 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 ...

History

Its source, located at of altitude and its confluence, being at of altitude, give it a significant drop, considering its in length. The flow of the river at its exit from Lake Memphremagog passed through a natural channel between 92 and wide; the current was rapid to ''Seaswaninepus'' lake at a distance of approximately downstream. This lake had a length of , then the ''great falls'' (Greats Falls), fell at a distance of before the Forks (The Fork) avec la rivière St-François.Report of a survey... from Memphrymagog to Connecticut river. April 12, 1826.doc no 154 19th Congress 1st Session The region was mapped by Joseph Blanchard in 1756. The significant drop allowed the construction of seven

s, three of which in the last meters, even a gorge carved out by the river, in the heart of

. One of them, that of the ''Paton Co.'' created the

Lac des Nations Lac des Nations is an artificial lake located in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It was created during the construction of a hydroelectric dam used to power the old Patton Co factory. Fed by the Magog River, it is at the heart of the Cité des Riviè ...

, a water basin formerly intended to provide leeway during low-water periods, in order to allow the continuous functioning of industrial companies, which used the hydraulic power of the river. Due to its regular flow and its significant variation, it was the scene of various industrial activities, particularly in Sherbrooke and Magog, in the 19th and 20th century. Today, its banks are mainly occupied by private residences, by linear parks, or by a few areas still wooded, industrial activities having almost all disappeared.

Geography

Toponymy

History

Dams

See also

References

Further reading