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 Éclairs and the Jeannotte River. In its downstream part, it waters Saint-Narcisse and Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan before flowing into the St. Lawrence River at Batiscan.
Toponymy The river was named in 1602 by Samuel de Champlain. He reported in 1610 that it was named for an Algonquin chief of the same name; however, this name was in use by Amerindian natives before the arrival of the first French explorers.Douville, Raymond, La seigneurie de Batiscan : chronique des premières années, (1636–1681), Éditions du Bien public, Trois-Rivières, Québec, 1980, commenting on the etymology of the name of Batiscan. The name "Batiscan" has been interpreted differently by various sources. Father Charles Arnaud argued that the name meant "steam cloud or light", or possibly "spray of dried meat". According to Pierre-Georges Roy the name means "who rushes to his mouth", which has been observed in the past. According to Father Albert Lacombe the name came from the Atikamekw term meaning "hoof or pending"; according to Father Joseph-Étienne Guinard, it derived from the cry "patiskam", meaning "stumble".
Geography Course The Batiscan River begins its course at of altitude in the Laurentian Mountains, in Lake Édouard, which is located in the Municipality of Lake Édouard (Haute-Mauricie). Lake Édouard is also the source of the Jeannotte River, which joins the Batiscan River after a course of .
Starting from Lake Édouard, the Batiscan River flows before flowing successively through three lakes in the centre of which is the Lake of the Cross (Lac-Édouard). The river courses about across the lakes. Then the river flows another unit before passing through another lake, which also receives the discharge from the north of the sub-watershed Lac aux Biscuits. This northern sub-basin is considered as the second head of the river.
The Seigneurie du Triton, built in 1897 on the edge of Lake of the Cross, administers a hunting and fishing on space. This outfitter is one of the oldest clubs in private hunting and fishing in Quebec. The outfitter offers several activities including interpretive trails for nature walks and canoe, visits to beaver habitat and spawning (breeding trout), visiting the Triton station, pedal boating, and swimming. In this area, several hiking trails are maintained by the Society of Wildlife and Parks of Quebec, including linking the Lac aux Biscuits.
In the first segment of its course, the Batiscan River flows through eight lakes (several being made by the swelling of the river) including two smallest.
Batiscan Lake is the second head of the Batiscan River. This elongated lake which is located in the MRC de La Jacques-Cartier (the unorganized territory of Lac-Croche). Batiscan Lake is especially fed by Croche River, lies outside the southwestern boundary of the Laurentian Wildlife Reserve. This lake discharges into the "Rivière aux éclairs" (Lightning River), which runs westward for before flowing into the Batiscan River.Names and places of Quebec, the work of the Geographical Names Board published in 1994 and 1996 as an illustrated dictionary printed. Micro-Intel has produced a CD in 1997.
From Lake of the Cross, the Batiscan River flows successively in a wilderness (the limit of the Zec Jeannotte and Laurentides Wildlife Reserve), and the Portneuf Wildlife Reserve. Then the river descends through Rivière-à-Pierre (western boundary of the municipality), Notre-Dame-de-Montauban, Quebec, Lac-aux-Sables, Sainte-Thècle, Quebec (Eastern limit of the municipality), Saint-Adelphe, Quebec, Saint-Stanislas, Saint-Narcisse, Quebec (limit of the municipality) Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan, Quebec and Batiscan, Quebec. Batiscan flows mainly south on and joined the St. Lawrence River up to Batiscan, Quebec.
The river runs through a mostly forested area from its source to the bridge over railway at Saint-Adelphe (with the exception of some agricultural areas close to St-Alphonse and Price rank, Lac-aux-Sables), and in the vicinity of Rousseau Road north of town Notre-Dame-de-Montauban and Main Street (south of the same village.) The rest of the course of the Batiscan is predominantly agricultural (photos).
Batiscan River, Upstream to Downstream Forest sectors
Rural and agricultural zones
History
There is a known archaeological potential at Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan where a manuscript source (Massicotte, 1935) mentions the discovery of artifacts from the prehistoric period (projectile point and others). Thus, the edge of the St. Lawrence River and its main tributaries have been occupied for several millennia. Because of its importance as a possible route of circulation and penetration to the interior, the Batiscan River remains a significant point of interest for prehistoric archaeology. Source: Chemin de la rivière à Veillette, archaeological reconnaissance.
In 1639, the Jesuits made the acquisition of lordship of Batiscan in order to evangelize the Attikameks. They do not settled in the colony, although they used the river up to the nineteenth century for the fur trade. In 1685, the Jesuits conceded the first batches of the Lordship, to the settlers established mainly in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan. In 1781, they installed a flour mill on Rivière des Envies, tributaries deemed easier than Batiscan River. In 1786, a chapel was built in Saint-Stanislas (Des Chenaux). Toward the end of nineteenth century, the municipalities were founded: Saint-Séverin, Saint-Tite, Sainte-Thècle, Saint-Adelphe and Lac-aux-Sables.
Photos
Mouth in Batiscan
Structures
Main waterfalls
The main waterfalls (or rapids) of the Batiscan River are (starting from the head of the river):
Upper Batiscanie:This segmentation of the Batiscanie in three territories was defined by Sylvain Veillette (Sainte-Thècle) and Gaétan Veillette (Saint-Hubert), in March 2013. This segmentation distinguishes three regions that have their own particularities. The three names are inspired by the same segmentation for the Saint-Maurice River (Mauricie) and Mattawin River (Mattawinie)
Note: Upper Batiscanie begins at the mouth of the Rivière-à-Pierre that empties into the Batiscan River, at kilometre 88.5.
A series of Class II rapids over from Lac-aux-Perles down to the Island of the Cross ("Ile de La Croix"). This section of the river is only accessible by train, or for those who wish to canoe-camp; continuing rapids of class III and IV (ideal for rafting) in the section "Portes de l'enfer" (Gates of Hell) on 25 km upstream of Rivière-à-Pierre, between Island of the Cross (Île-de-la-Croix) and the beginning of the Portneuf Wildlife Reserve; Series of rapids in the Portneuf Wildlife Reserve, several tens of kilometres: Trois-Roches (Three Rocks) Rapids, rapids "de la Sauvagesse" (Savage Rapid), Rapids "à Thiffault"; Series of rapids between the Talbot bridge and Mount Otis (north of the village of Notre-Dame-de-Montauban), particularly at km 98.5, km 88 and km 84;
Mid Batiscanie
Note: Mid Batiscanie lies between Murphy Falls (Saint-Stanislas) and the mouth of the Rivière-à-Pierre at km 88.5.
Fall of the Ten; Fall of the Nine, located upstream of the bridge in the village of Notre-Dame-des-Anges; Fall of the Eight, located approximately by water, below the village of Notre-Dame-de-Montauban and upstream from the bridge of the row Price in Saint-Adelphe, located near the village of Lac-aux-Sables. The road to the "Fall of the Eight" start at the intersection of Route 367 (or south of the bridge in the village of Notre-Dame-de-Montauban) and goes along the river on the right bank for about ; Fall in the Seven, located downstream of row Price bridge (Lac-aux-Sables) and the mouth of the Tawachiche River); Fall of the Six, located at downstream from the mouth of Tawachiche River in forested areas; Fall of the Five, located downstream from the fall of the Six and from the railway bridge in Saint-Adelphe. This drop is in a forested area without paths; Manitou fall, between Saint-Adelphe and Saint-Stanislas (Les Chenaux); Falls to Jimmy; Falls to Murphy to Saint-Stanislas (Les Chenaux);
The river has some rapids or falls between Notre-Dame-de-Montauban and Saint-Adelphe. The Fall of the two and Fall of manitou are located in the latter locality.
The Batiscan River falls are numbered from 1 to 10, from Saint-Narcisse going back to Notre-Dame-de-Montauban. 4–7 drops are less crowded because less accessible, being located in wilderness areas.
Lower Batiscanie
Note: Lower Batiscanie lies between the mouth of the Batiscan River and the foot of the Falls to Murphy, Saint-Stanislas Les Chenaux
Fall des Ailes (Fall of the Wings); Ilets fall; "Grande chute" (Great Fall) (altitude ), in Saint-Narcisse (west side of the river) and Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan (East side), where the Saint-Narcisse dam is built; "chutes de la Cheminée" (Falls of the chimney) (altitude 15 metres) in Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan.
The "Jesuit Journal" of April 20, 1657 reports from a trip fur trade on the Batiscan River, from April 20 to July 15, 1657, carried out by eight French from Trois-Rivières, with twenty canoes Algonquins. Starting from Trois-Rivières, the group passed 28 jumps on Batiscan River in 14 days, arriving at the end of their journey as of May 28, 1657. In total, the group crossed 74 jumps or portage. A French was then drowned.Raymond Douville, "La Seigneurie de Batiscan: chroniques des premières années (1636–1681)" (The Lordship of Batiscan: chronic early years (1636–1681)), Editions du Bien Public, Trois-Rivières, p. 10, chapter "Les premiers Français à Batiscan" (First French in Batiscan).
The 1663 Charlevoix earthquake would have changed significantly the relief in the Batiscanie including the disappearance of jumps in the Batiscan River, the emergence of new rocks, flattening of some mountains, major cracks in the ground.Raymond Douville, "La Seigneurie de Batiscan: chroniques des premières années (1636–1681) (The Lordship of Batiscan: chronic early years (1636–1681)), Éditions du Bien public, Trois-Rivières, p. 11 to 13, chapter "Le tremblement de terre de 1663" (The earthquake in 1663)."
Hydrology The watershed of the Batiscan has an area of . Its flow, which is measured at the central Saint-Narcisse is /s. Flow has however a strong seasonal variation, with a maximum of /s in May and a minimum of unity /s in September. The last unit, Batiscan River empties into the St. Lawrence River. At the mouth of the river, tides are up to .
The basin is composed of a hundred rivers. The main rivers which are tributaries of the Batiscan, from upstream to downstream, are the river Castor noir, Lightning River, Jeannotte, Miguick, Rivière-à-Pierre, Tawachiche and Rivière-des-Envies.
The basin includes a thousand lakes. The largest lakes are Lac Édouard , Batiscan , Lac-aux-Sables , Masketsi , Lac-à-la-Tortue (Turtle Lake) , Lake Jesuit and Roberge . In the catchment area of the Batiscan River, more than 85 dams of various sizes were identified, seven of which have a height of more than .
Forest industry From 1852 the William Price and Company began to exploit the forest. Several sawmills were built on the Batiscan River and Rivière des Envies. The timber was transported by water flow, requiring that workers had to drave the logs. The first trees were cut the White Pine sent to Great Britain. From the 1930, activities of logging turned and served rather to papers mills. In 1963 the log drive was abandoned on the Batiscan.
Former Saint Narcisse Electric Central