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 name of the parish of Saint-Tite is attested in 1859 and was established thanks to the canonical and civil election that occurred in 1863 following its detachment from Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade and Saint-Stanislas de-la-Rivière-des-Envies. The post office, opened in 1859, and the parish municipality, established in 1863, took over the parish name that celebrates a companion of St. Paul the Apostle, who converted him in the first century by entrusting him with the task of organizing the Church of

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

History

The first real inhabitants of the area were

Indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

–

Algonquins The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada and parts of the United States. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely ...

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

and

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

– who lived near Lake Kapibouska. Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The small settlement of Saint-Juste-de Kapibouska took the name of Saint-Tite at the end of the 1850. Small Indigenous and

communities lived in makeshift camps whose permanence or duration depended on the availability of

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, ...

, the quality of the soil to be cultivated, as many also did some gardening, and the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

. All French attempts to settle the

had failed.
Mission. The Saint-Juste de Kapibouska mission was set up for the Aboriginal people living at Kapibouska Lake. At the beginning of the 19th century,

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

visited the territory.
Pioneers. In the early 1830s, lumber yards were booming on the Rivière des Envies. The first settler of French-Canadian origin settled around 1833 in the area of the future city of Saint-Tite. Over time, several other pioneers were established.
Apart from the missionaries' visits, the settlers had to travel several kilometers to reach the church of St. Stanislaus. The first chapel-presbytery was built in the 1850s. The first resident priest arrived in 1859.
Easter water. From the beginning of colonization, it is likely that gathering Easter water was a common practice among members of the Christian community. In 1995, the first organized harvest and the blessing of Easter water took place at the Curé Boutet spring. The faithful get their feet wet, get dirty with mud, some fall on patches of ice. Safety and accessibility are the reasons for the construction of temporary sets. Today, throughout Quebec, this practice has become increasingly rare, becoming a social gathering or even a tourist activity.

On Easter Sunday, we will have the celebration of Easter water at 4:30 a.m. before sunrise at the Curé spring at the end of Rue du Couvent. Afterwards, we will gather as a big family for a fraternal lunch at the Seniors' Club room around 5:30 am (Breakfast with baked beans, maple syrup and bread rolls, served by members of the Pastoral Council, free of charge).
Source: The parish leaflet of the Christian community of the parish of Saint-Tite, April 12, 1998.

Railway Fever 1878: The vast territory north of the St. Lawrence Plain, with its opening onto the immensity 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 ...

, evokes grandiose dreams. In 1878, St. Laurence, Lower Laurentian & Saguenay obtained permission to build a track between

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 ...

and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean via Saint-Tite .
Note: ''Kapibouska'': of Algonquian origin, this name means "place of camp where there are reeds", kapi, "place of camp", baska or bouska "rushes", "reeds".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the city was adopted in 1954 by the city council. The coat of arms of Saint-Tite is blazoned thus: Greek cross gules a chief azure point, flanked by a toothed wheel segment money dexter and a gear segment sinister gold, containing a skin tight leather gold dextral and sinistral spruce money, overcoming mountains of sand placed on a terrace or charged with a blue river.

Geography

The city is crossed by the Rivière des Envies, a tributary of the Batiscan River. Rivière des Envies has its source at

Lake Traverse Lake Traverse is an lake along the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota, and is the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. Lake Traverse is drained at its north end by the northward-flow ...

in Sainte-Thècle and enters at the northern part (in "Grand marais" sector) of the territory of Saint-Tite. It crosses the municipality through the city, then heads to Proulxville.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Saint-Tite had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the 2021 census: * Less than 1% of the population is immigrant. * 24% of the population over 15 years has no diploma. * 10% of the population over 15 years has a degree of higher education. * 59.6% of the population of Saint-Tite is urban. The urban area of Saint-Tite has a population of 2,190 and an area of 2.69 km² in 2021, or a density of 814.6 inhabitants/km². * Private dwellings occupied by usual residents in 2021: 1,915 (total dwellings: 2,271) Mother language of Saint-Tite's citizens: Almost all of the population speaks French as a mother tongue: * 17.4% of the population masters both official languages of Canada. * French as first language: 98.5% * English as first language: 0.6% * English and French as first language: 0.4% * Other as first language: 0.4%

Arts and culture

The city of Saint-Tite is particularly known for the Festival Western de Saint-Tite, which takes place for 10 days in September every year. The Festival Western de Saint-Tite was developed from a

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

inaugurated in 1967 to promote the leather industry. The Festival Western de Saint-Tite is the largest Western attraction in Eastern

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 ...

. This festival of Eastern style, under the epithet Western, has an international reputation. The festival's success has led to the remodeling of some of the town's infrastructures to resemble a western frontier town of the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. Since 1999, the

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

of Festival Western de Saint-Tite is awarded as the "Best outdoor

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

". The festival features a variety of activities that take place at a rate of horsemen and the sound of country music and in Eastern decor: competition, conference, parade, tasting, demonstrations, exhibitions, shows, etc... The horsemen and women can participate in various tests of skill on horseback or on wild bull (with or without a saddle). They can participate in speed events, such as steer roping, or skill tests, such as barrel racing. During the 10 days of the Festival, several events take place in the various marquees erected around the city or at the Country Club Desjardins, a site that looks like a typical western town. The festival is marked by a country western character. The "Galaxie Rising Star Award" awarded at the Festival contributes to the development of musical talent in the country western area. Saint-Tite is an important part of the novel

Les Filles de Caleb ''Les Filles de Caleb'' is a Quebec TV series of 20 one-hour episodes, created by Jean Beaudin, based on the eponymous novel of Arlette Cousture,W.H. New. A History of Canadian Literature'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 6 August 2003. . p. 344– ...

(Caleb's daughters), written by novelist Arlette Cousture. The backstory of this novel is based on the life of Émilie Bordeleau, a country school teacher who taught and lived with her children in schools in the area.

Infrastructure

Highway 153 connects Saint-Tite to

Shawinigan Shawinigan (; ) is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,620 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) ...

and Lac-aux-Sables, and Highway 159 to Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac and Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. Saint-Tite is also served by the Via Rail Canada passenger train service, the Saint-Tite station (station platform) is at 310 Marchildon Street.

Notable people

* Julie Boulet, politician, member of the

Liberal Party of Quebec The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuan ...

. * Gratien Gélinas (1909-1999), playwright and actor. * Joseph-Alfred Mongrain, politician in the Canadian parliament

Photos

File: Saint_Tite_098.jpg, Rivière Mékinac du Nord from bridge P-03959,steel-wood, under embankment (1982), rang Haut-du-Lac Nord File:Saint Tite 040.jpg, Le Bourdais River, from Bridge P-0363,reinforced concrete gantry, under embankment (1948), route 359, Rang du Haut-du-Lac-Nord File:Saint Tite 105.jpg, South Mékinac River the Laurentians, the river, from the bridge P-03952, Reinforced concrete frame, under embankment, Quebec Route 359 File:Saint_Tite_083.jpg, Barbier Spring (Vernacular name, Notre-Dame Street, 2023 File:Saint Tite 1998 Paques 009 3557 2371.jpg, Curé Boutet spring (

Common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

), rue du Couvent File:Saint_Tite_1998_Paques_012.jpg, Curé Boutet spring, rue du Couvent File:Saint_Tite_1998_Paques_013.jpg, Curé Boutet spring, rue du Couvent File:Saint_Tite_1998_Paques_016.jpg, Breakfast with baked beans, maple syrup and bread rolls, served by members of the Pastoral Council, free of charge, St-Joseph blvd File:Saint Tite 011.jpg, Source du Barbier (vernacular name), Notre-Dame Street, 2012 File:Saint Tite 018.jpg, Source du Barbier (vernacular name), Notre-Dame Street, 2012 159) File:Saint_Tite_077.jpg, Catholic Church sign on Notre-Dame Street, corner Saint-Paul File:Saint_Tite_072.jpg, Saint-Paul Street, Catholic Church on Notre-Dame Street File:Saint_Tite_058.jpg, Catholic Parish Cemetery sign, Saint-Joseph Blvd., ( Quebec Route 159) File:Saint_Tite_061.jpg, Catholic Parish Cemetery, Saint-Joseph Blvd., (Quebec Route 159) File:Saint_Tite_63.jpg, Former Via Rail Canada Station Platform, rue Marchildon' File:Saint_Tite_67.jpg, Former Via Rail Canada Station Platform, rue Marchildon

References

External links

* City of Saint-Tite of Champlain (Ville de Saint-Tite de Champlain):

{{authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Mauricie Mékinac Regional County Municipality