Rang du Haut-de-la-Rivière rest area

Originally, the seigneury of Pierreville extended over both banks of the Saint-François River.

The no. 2 schoolhouse stands at the top of the hill. 

Detail of a plan dated 1823 on which is indicated the flour mill (Mill). A man named François Duhaime would have been responsible for the construction of this mill but more recent maps speak of the Grant's Mill. It would be David Alexander Grant who was part of a group from the English-speaking bourgeoisie settled in Lower Canada. They bought the mill in 1797. All the infrastructure present there was destroyed by the spring floods of 1880.

This rest area allows us to learn a little more about the sector. Continuing a little further along Rang du Haut-de-la-Rivière, we cross a one-lane bridge, made of wood and steel. This bridge has spanned the Rivière aux Vaches since 1918.

Drive slowly over the bridge deck and take in the scenery around you. You can see the results of erosion which has stripped bare cliffs and carved a deep furrow in the sandy and clay soil of the area.

On the heights was the no.2 schoolhouse. It is still there but it was moved to the other side of the road and benefited from a facelift and a change of colour.

At this point on the Saint-François River, rapids make navigation practically impossible. The current carved out an archipelago of grassy islands. If they are uninhabited today, they have nevertheless been frequented for centuries, even millennia, by passing populations, particularly the Abenakis.

One of the islands is called «Île du Moulin». Archival documents dating from 1713 would indicate that on this land, a certain François Duhaime had a flour mill built as well as carding and fulling mills, following the fire which destroyed the mill which was located at the fort Crevier, on «Île du Fort». 

It is a sure bet that this region still conceals secrets because other archives and documents mention the presence of a sawmill on the Rivière aux Vaches, a little upstream from the bridge. Unfortunately, the clues are too vague to identify a specific site where, perhaps, other archaeological remains are still to be found.

TREYVAUD, Geneviève et Michel Plourde. Les Abénakis d’Odanak, un voyage archéologique, Musée des Abénakis, Odanak, Québec, 2017, 127 pages.

BEAULIEU, Éric. L'étude préliminaire de l'évolution récente du delta de la rivière Saint-François, Département de géographie, Université de Montréal, 2006, 46 pages.

Photos and plans Credits:

An overview of the sector: MONGEAU, Jean-René. Rivière Saint-François, dans la région du Centre-du-Québec, photographie noir et blanc, 1975, E6, S7, SS2, D75-203, Fonds Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, BAnQ Vieux-Montréal, in BAnQ numérique.

A portion of Pierreville seigniory: SMITH. Patrick H. Plan and detail relative to the separation of that part of Pierreville seigniory situate on the n.e. side of the River St. Francis, 1823-04-16, E21, S555, SS1, SSSS20, PP.5B, Fonds Ministère des Terres et Forêts, BAnQ Québec.

The no. 2 Schoolhouse: HUDON-BEAUDET, Florence. Saint-François-du-Lac 1673-1998, Saint-François-du-Lac, 1999, page 634

Plan of the island of the Mill: Detail from SMITH. Patrick H. Plan and detail relative to the separation of that part of Pierreville seigniory situate on the n.e. side of the River St. Francis, 1823-04-16, E21, S555, SS1, SSSS20, PP.5B, Fonds Ministère des Terres et Forêts, BAnQ Québec.