150 Years Of History
Painting by Gilles St-Laurent / gilstlaurent.art@ccapcable.com
The wondrous beauty and the promise of a new future began to attract settlers to the valley of the Jacques Cartier River in the early 19th Century. Although still mainly a wilderness in 1815, four leading men from Québec City – the Honourable John Neilson; the Honourable Andrew Stuart; Louis Moquin, advocate; and Nicolas Vincent, Chief of the Huron Tribe – formed an association and purchased a large tract of the former Jesuit Estates held by the government. Very shortly after, the settlements of St. Gabriel de Valcartier East and West were established. Men experienced with clearing forested lands were brought in and many Scottish immigrants were enticed by generous offers of farm land. A road soon linked the fledgling settlements to Lorette. A saw- and a grist-mill were also built, further encouraging growth.