The Distribution of Population in the Lake St. John Lowland, Quebec

Abstract

_F AR back in the wilderness of the Laurentian Shield, about one hundred miles north of the city of Quebec and a like distance west of the mouth of the Saguenay River, is an island of population which occupies the plain of unconsolidated sands and clays surrounding the low shores of Lake St. John.' The widespread settlement of the plain, carried out predominantly by agricultural people, began in the year 1851, when M. l'Abbe Hebert succeeded in establishing in the southeastern part, at the present site of Hebertville, a colony of French-Canadian farmers from the St. Lawrence Valley.2 Since that year the settlement has spread westward and northward until today, with an occasional hiatus, it encircles the lake. It has retained its original characteristics so that, in spite of the recent introduction of three pulp mills and one large hydro-electric plant, the population is more than 90 per cent composed of French-speaking farmers. The bulk of the settlement is associated with adequately drained clay-loam soils. This relationship is shown in Figure I. On the other hand, the lack or paucity of population in certain sections is indicative of the presence of swampy conditions or extremely sandy soils. These conditions are reflected in the population statistics. The area shown within the confines of the population map contains about 50,000 persons, the vast majority of whom are found in the lowland. In the lowland itself the actual number varies greatly from place to place. In the whole of swampy Racine canton there is not a single inhabitant, while in the more favorable parts a single areally inconspicuous agglomeration, such as Hebertville, may contain more than a thousand persons. The principal exception to this general condition is found in the vicinity of Dolbeau. Here, owing to the presence of a large pulp mill and also of woodcutting camps in the adjacent upland, many are able to eke out a living through part-time employment as mill hands or lumberjacks. The distribution of population in terms of pattern, if not unique, is certainly unusual. In order to describe this pattern it is necessary