Select a territory to discover the families who shaped its history
In the absence of major inland waterways, it appears that First Nations sporadically spend time in the region. From the first quarter of the 17th century, the St. Lawrence Valley welcomed immigrants from the old countries. Initially concentrated around Quebec City, they gathered in seigniories and parishes. Their migration to the east was more often than not a second step in their settlement. The first permanent settlements appeared around 1680. The concentration of pioneer families in Kamouraska and Grande-Anse made it one of the cradles of New France. The settlers cleared the richest and most fertile pieces of land of the territory, namely on the coastal plain, and settled. Around 1790, about 1,500 people lived in this area.
The territory impresses with its sunsets on the Charlevoix mountains and the St. Lawrence River. The plain, the mountains looming on the horizon and the “cabourons” punctuating the landscape are part of the same picture.