Missionary Lake ormerly named "Grand lac long" (Grand Long Lake)is located in the municipalities of Trois-Rives and

Lac-aux-Sables Lac-aux-Sables () is a parish municipality in the Mékinac Regional County Municipality (MRC de Mékinac), in administrative district of the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada. Its population centres are Lac-aux-Sables and He ...

in the Mekinac Regional County Municipality (RCM), in

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 ...

, in the administrative area of the

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 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, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

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 is named in honour of missionary and explorer

Paul Le Jeune Paul Le Jeune, SJ (; 1591–1664) was a French Jesuit missionary in New France. He served as the Superior of the Jesuits in the French colony of Canada from 1632 to 1639. During his tenure, he began a mission at Trois-Rivières, founded the com ...

, one of the founders of the Jesuit mission that was opened in 1634 in nearby

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 ...

, Quebec.

History

In Aboriginal history, the Mekinac River and Missionary Lake together served as paths between the

Saint-Maurice River The Saint-Maurice River (, ; ) is one of the main tributaries of the St. Lawrence River, after the Ottawa River, Ottawa and the Saguenay River, Saguenay Rivers and drains an area of 42,735 km2. It touches the Lac Saint-Jean, Lake Saint John waters ...

and

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 winter, this route was also very useful for forest contractors using horse-drawn sleighs to access logging areas around Missionary Lake or Mekinac Lake. The need for this path for forestry was greatly reduced when a railway was completed in 1908 in the nearby Tawachiche sector connecting Hervey-Jonction to

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 11,129 at the 2021 Canadian census, most of which live within the urban area. At over , i ...

. Today, this Mekinac/Missionary route is used recreationally by snowmobiles and ATVs between early December and late March. In 1938, the Groleau Company built a sawmill at the south end of Missionary Lake, 4.3 km from Hervey-Jonction. On June 27, 1955, the mill was destroyed by a fire. It was rebuilt in the village of Sainte-Thècle, opposite the train station and next to the Groleau factory. Today, the region's economy is based on tourism and forestry. The area is suitable for

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

, water activities, nature observation and gathering wild fruit.

Geography

Missionary Lake is divided into two parts, north and south, which are interconnected by Groleau Strait which is 0.77 km in length. The southern part of Missionary Lake discharges into the northern part of the lake through the Groleau Strait. Small boats can navigate through the southern entrance to the strait. There is a wider channel of about 0.5 km long in the middle portion of the strait, but the strait otherwise is difficult to navigate, being narrow and shallow in places with stones at the bottom. The northern part of the strait entry requires a portage with a canoe. A bridge spans the strait at its northern portion to serve the cottages located on the northeast shore of the lake. The south part of Missionary Lake is located partly in the municipality of

(5th and 6th Row Price) and partly in Trois-Rives (from 1st row N.-E. to 5e row N.-E.). The Trois-Rives section was part of the unorganized region of Lac-Masketsi until August 28, 2004. The southern part of the lake is elongated along the north-south axis, with a length of 5.1 km and a maximum width of 0.5 km. The southern part of the lake is accessible by road from Hervey-Jonction's sector (in the municipality of Lac-aux-Sables), connected by Lac en coeur Road to Missionary Lake Road which runs along the south-western part of the lake. Missionary Lake Road continues beyond the Groleau strait, along the southwestern bank of North Missionary lake. The northern part of Missionary Lake is elongated along the north-south axis, measuring 7.1 km in length and 1.2 km wide. Its discharge, at the northwest end of the lake, flows north and west 3.18 km to Mékinac Lake through several smaller lakes, the largest of which is Lac à la Puce. It discharges into Mékinac Lake, just upstream of the dam at the mouth of the latter lake. The northern part of Missionary Lake is accessible by road from the village of Saint-Joseph-de-Mékinac in the Municipality of Trois-Rives, north along Lake Mékinac Road 8.5 km, then along Missionary Lake Road for 4.2 km.

Toponymy

The name "Missionary Lake" was chosen to honour the Jesuit missionary

who came from France, and is one of the founders of the mission

in 1634 and Ville-Marie (

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

) in 1642.

was a great explorer of

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

after the founding of

. In the region of Sainte-Thècle, several sites are associated with his life's work: Canton Lejeune, Lac Lejeune and Lake Jesuit. In

Saint-Tite Saint-Tite () is a Canadian city located at the foothills of the Laurentians, between Grandes-Piles and Saint-Adelphe, in the Mauricie RCM of Mékinac. A large body of water, Lake Pierre-Paul, bathes the northeastern part of the territory.' ...

, the École secondaire Paul Le Jeune (High School) which opened in 1969, also pays tribute to the missionary. The name "Missionary Lake" was recorded on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of place names of

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

Geography

Toponymy

See also

Related articles

References