The Marquette River runs successively in the townships of Châteauford, Cramahé and Aigremont. The central part of the river flows through the Ashuapmushuan Wildlife Reserve. Forestry is the main economic activity of this valley; recreational tourism activities, second.
The surface of the Marquette River is usually frozen from early November to mid-May, however, safe ice movement is generally from mid-November to mid-April.
Geography
The adjacent hydrographic slopes of the Marquette River are:
The Marquette River originates at the mouth of the Marquette Lake (length: 14.0 kilometres (8.7 mi); width: 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi); altitude: 411 metres (1,348 ft)) which overlaps the townships of Marquette and Châteaufort. This lake is mainly fed by the discharge (coming from the North-East) of the lakes of Beaurrieux, Tombelle and Fouquet, as well as the discharge of Lake Matié. The mouth of this head lake is located at:
From the mouth of Marquette Lake, the Marquette River flows over 64.9 kilometres (40.3 mi), according to the following segments:
25.4 kilometres (15.8 mi) north, northeast, then northwest in Châteaufort Township, forming small streamers and crossing some marsh areas at the end of the segment, until the limit of the cantons of Châteaufort and Cramahé;
18.4 kilometres (11.4 mi) northwesterly in Cramahé Township forming a hook of 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) southwesterly to the confluence of the Marquette River West (coming from North-West);
15.7 kilometres (9.8 mi) north-east forming a loop towards the South, to the limit of the townships of Cramahé and Aigremont;
1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) forming a loop towards the North in the canton of Aigremont, then returns to the limit of the cantons;
4.0 kilometres (2.5 mi) south-east passing between two natural jetties on 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi), to its mouth.[2]
The confluence of the Marquette River with the Ashuapmushuan Lake is located at:
The Marquette River flows to the bottom of a bay on the northwestern shore of Ashuapmushuan Lake (length:132.4 kilometres (82.3 mi); maximum width: 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi); altitude: 371 metres (1,217 ft)) that the current of the Marquette River crosses on the north-east to its mouth. From there, the current flows through the Ashuapmushuan River which flows to Saint-Félicien, Quebec on the west shore of Lac Saint-Jean.
Toponymy
This hydronym evokes the work of life of Jacques Marquette (Laon, France, 1637 - near Luddington, Michigan, 1675). He was a Jesuit missionary and explorer. He first studied Amerindian languages, then he devoted himself to various missions including the Outaouais; in 1671, he founded the mission of Saint-Ignace, among the Wendat (Hurons), on the north shore of the Michilimakinac Strait. In 1672, he met Louis Jolliet with whom he would reach the Mississippi River. He will explore this river to the present border of Arkansas and Louisiana. Anxious to found a mission with the Kaskaskias in the Illinois country, Father Marquette must give it up because of illness.
