In the early 1800s, in Quebec, mainly in the Outaouais, Mauricie and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean regions, attempts to transport wood by water began. In Batiscanie, the parish of Saint-Stanislas has a large reservoir of labour for work in rivers and forests.
The village area of Saint-Stanislas is said to have had 422 inhabitants as early as 1851 and 593 twenty years later. Beginning in 1852, Price Brothers and Company exploited the forest of the Batiscan Valley. Several sawmills were built on the Batiscan and des Envies rivers.
The presence of sawmilling facilities and the development of logging throughout the Saint-Maurice River basin allowed Saint-Stanislas to establish itself as the main basin for labour and forestry subcontracting until about 1870, before being overtaken by that of Saint-Tite, located further north, in the Laurentian mountains.
The timber was transported by floating, down the current of the rivers, which required the work of cages and log drivers (Cajeux - Draveurs). The first types of trees cut were — Pin blanc L. — Pinus strobus. — White pine (eastern white pine)., shipped to Great Britain.
The log driver, a daring tightrope walker of the rivers, was responsible for controlling the free floating of cut tree trunks that were thrown into a watercourse in order to reach a sawmill or a pulp and paper mill.[2]
The settlers who had already established themselves took advantage of the proximity of the construction sites to sell their agricultural production and at the same time provided a workforce for whom working in the forest represented an additional income.[3]'[4]'[5]
The territory of Saint-Stanislas is set ablaze in gigantic geographical and geological formations: on the Canadian Shield, at the foot of the Laurentian mountain range, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, in the Saint-Narcisse moraine, the boreal forest, among other elements.
The municipality was established on both sides of the Batiscan River, at the confluence of the Rivière des Envies, about twenty kilometres from the St. Lawrence River, in Batiscanie, the vernacular name of an undefined territory.
Saint-Stanislas is part of this group of parishes that historians describe as the first pioneer front of the Mauricie region in the nineteenth century.[6]'[3]'[7] (Photos)
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Saint-Stanislas had a population of 1,001 living in 506 of its 578 total private dwellings, a change of -0.9% from its 2016 population of 1,010. With a land area of 89.38 km2 (34.51 sq mi), it had a population density of 11.2/km2 (29.0/sq mi) in 2021.[8]
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 506 (total dwellings: 579)
Mother language of Saint-Stanislas's citizens:
French as first language: 98.0%
English as first language: 0.5%
English and French as first language: 1.0%
Other as first language: 1.0%
In 2021 Census, 215 particulars declared themselves as bilingual (English & French), 785 speaking French only and none speaking English only. The median age of the population was 56.8 years in 2021. In addition, 88% of the population was aged 15 and over.
^Elizabeth A. Moffatt, Marie-Claude Corbeil (2007). "The Painting Materials and Techniques of Cornelius Krieghoff (1815-1872)"(PDF). Department of Canadian Heritage and the Art Gallery of Ontario. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-12-21. Autumn and winter landscapes, portrayals of Aboriginal people and depictions of life in rural Quebec
^"200 years of exploits Cageux et draveurs". On the road to the historic motion of the National Assembly of Quebec: 200 years of exploits: cageux et draveurs (in French). Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. 2021. p. 380. Retrieved 2023-12-21. At the time of the great voyages of exploration, the First Peoples provided assistance essential for Europeans to survive and settle in these lands
^Jean Benoit (2005). "PRICE, Sir WILLIAM (1867-1924)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 15. University of Toronto/Université Laval. Retrieved 2023-12-21. Educated first at Bishop's College, in Lennoxville, Que., and later at St Mark's School in Windsor, England
^"Saint-Stanislas". Commission de toponymie Quebec (in French). Government of Quebec. 1976-12-24. Retrieved 2023-12-23. Saint-Stanislas was part of the seigneury of Batiscan (1639) owned by the Jesuits
^The Canadian Encyclopedia (2021-08-06). "Canadian Shield". Huge rock formation, stretches from Labrador to the Arctic, covering parts of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and much of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories
^Audrey Leblanc (13 November 2018). "He operates an old-fashioned sawmill" (in French). L'Hebdo journal. Retrieved 2024-01-06. the force of the moving water that powers the company built in 1860.
External links
Historical Society, Municipality of Saint-Stanislas, list of publications (French)
St. Lawrence River, The Canadian Encyclopedia - Historica Canada, January 1922
Atlas de l'eau, Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs Québec, 2023 (French).
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![Mill built by the Jesuits in 1781, monument erected by the Historical Society of Saint-Stanislas, road 159[10]](File:Saint_Stanislas_062.jpg)
