Mitchinamecus River

The Mitchinamecus River is a watercourse of the North Shore of St. Lawrence River, in the province of Quebec, in Canada. The current of this river crosses the territory of: the city of La Tuque, in Mauricie; the unorganized territories of Baie-Obaoca, in Matawinie Regional County Municipality, in Lanaudière administrative region; the unorganized territories of Lac-Oscar, in Antoine-Labelle Regional County Municipality), in the administrative region of Laurentides.

Geography The Mitchinamecus River originates at the southern limit of the township of Dandurand and south of the municipality of Parent, in Haut-Saint-Maurice, in Mauricie. Head Lake (altitude: , U-shaped) constitutes the head lake of the Mitchinamecus River. Head Lake is located south of a bay in Dandurand Lake (altitude: ), west of Margaret Lake (altitude: ), and southeast of the village of Parent, at northwest of Manouane Lake and north of Mitchinamecus Reservoir.

The main watersheds around the head of the Mitchinamecus River are; in the North: Lac Dandurand which is a tributary of the Bazin River; to the east: Pierre River, Cabasta River, Némiscachingue River; Adam River; to the south: Rivière du Lièvre; to the west: Bazin River.

River course downstream from Height Lake (23.8 km segment)

From the mouth west of Height Lake, the Mitchinamecus River flows over: towards the northwest by collecting the waters of Lac du Portage (altitude: , coming from the north), up to the outlet of Lac Hull ( altitude: ); westward, to the outlet of Head Lake (altitude: ), of Lac Aigu (altitude: ) and Lake Hare (altitude: ); south-west, to the mouth of Totem Lake which the current crosses on ; south-west, to the mouth of Lac de la Tanière which the current crosses on ; south-west, up to the road bridge connecting the two shores in a strait of Long Lake (altitude: ). Note: Long Lake receives on its east shore the Pierre River; to the southwest, crossing Long Lake over its full length. This long lake is an extension of the Mitchinamecus River.

Course of the river downstream from Lac Long (78.3 km segment)

From the dam located at the mouth southwest of the long lake, the Mitchinamecus river flows over: towards the south-west, crossing several lakes which constitute an enlargement of the river, up to the outlet of Slow Lake (altitude: ) and Peabody (altitude: ), coming from the south-east; south-west to the outlet of Basset lakes (altitude: ), Fleet (altitude: ) and Georges (altitude: ), coming from the north; south-west to the outlet of Lac Tournière (altitude: ), coming from the south; south-west to the outlet of Lac Mignarde (altitude: ), coming from the north; (or in a direct line) towards the south-west, forming numerous streamers, up to the outlet of Lakes Armature, Barils, Team, Jacynthe, René and Dan, from the northwest; ( in a direct line) south-west, forming numerous streamers, to the outlet of Leluau lake, coming from the east; ( in a direct line) westward, forming numerous streamers, to the northeast shore of the north bay of Mitchinamecus reservoir; crossing to the southwest the north bay of the Mitchinamecus reservoir, to the Dépôt-Carrier bridge; towards the southwest crossing the Mitchinamecus reservoir, up to Mitchinamecus Dam.

River course downstream of the Mitchinamecus Reservoir (25.1 km segment)

From the dam at the mouth to the south of the Mitchinamecus reservoir, the river flows on:

east to the outlet of Nottaway Creek; southwards, to the outlet of Lac de la Loutre; south-east, up to Rascas Falls; south, to Louise stream, coming from the east; southeasterly, up to Cannor stream, coming from the east; southwest, to Matts Creek; south-west, to the mouth of the Mitchinamecus river which flows into the Lièvre river which forms a large loop at this point. This confluence is designated "Les Fourches".

From the Mitchinamecus reservoir, the Mitchinamecus river crosses several rapids and falls, in particular: fall of the Broken Lady, the Carrier rapids, the Rascas Falls (from downstream from Cerise stream) and the Long Rapids. The lower segments of the Mitchinamecus River are navigated by canoeists in whitewater.

Toponymy The term Mitchinamecus refers to a zec, a river, a reservoir and a dam.

Formerly, the Mitchinamecus river was also designated: Otter river and Macamekosi Sipi. This toponym appears in the official documentation in 1911. Of Cree origin, this toponym means "large trout", of misinamecus, formed of mis, large, large and namecus, trout. Mashamengoose river, sometimes spelled Menjobabuse.Source: "Names and places of Quebec", work of the Commission de toponymie du Québec, published in 1994 and 1996 in the form of a printed illustrated dictionary, and that of a CD-ROM produced by the company Micro-Intel, in 1997, from this dictionary.

The toponym Rivière Mitchinamecus was formalized on September 12, 1986 at the Bank of Place Names of the Commission de toponymie du Québec.Commission de toponymie du Québec - Mitchinamecus River

Notes and references

Mitchinamecus River

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