A Brief History of Gaspésie
Various peoples have shaped the history of Gaspésie. Mi’gmaq, Basque and Breton fishermen, the French, Acadians, Loyalists, English and Jersey Islanders have all contributed to the region’s rich cultural heritage. You can learn more about the history of these peoples in various museums, interpretation centres and historic sites throughout Gaspésie.
First People
The history of Gaspésie begins with the Mi’gmaq, one of the Algonquian First Nations, who were also known as “saltwater Indians.” The Mi’gmaq had already occupied the Gaspé Peninsula for 2500 years by the time the first Europeans arrived in what was to become Canada.
The Mi’gmaq had a subsistence economy based on hunting and fishing. The sea was their main source of food. In the summer, groups would set up camp along the St. Lawrence, near the mouths of fish-filled rivers. During the winter, they would make their way inland to hunt caribou and other big game found on the peninsula.
Jacques Cartier’s Arrival
In 1534, two French ships commanded by the St. Malo sailor Jacques Cartier set out across the Atlantic to explore the recently visited lands across the ocean and claim possession of them in the name of the King of France.
After sailing along the coast of what is now Newfoundland in May of that year and then near the southern shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Jacques Cartier finally arrived in Chaleur Bay on a particularly hot day in July (this inspired the name of the bay since chaleur means heat).
The St. Malo explorer landed in several places along the shores of the bay where he met the Mi’gmaq and established trade relations with them before finally disembarking in Gaspé Bay. On July 24, 1534, he erected a cross bearing the French royal coat of arms to claim possession of this land on behalf of the king. This highly symbolic act marked the beginning of the French presence in North America; as a result, Jacques Cartier became known as the “discoverer of New France.”
Seasonal Fishing
European settlement did not begin immediately, however, since France was at the time deeply involved in various military conflicts as well as internal political and religious strife.
During this period, fishermen from Normandy, Brittany, the Basque Country and La Rochelle began to fish for cod along the coast of what is now Gaspésie.
In the early 17th century, the region was home to five major summer fishing posts. Matane was used as a fur-trading post for the young colony that had been established further west along the shores of the St. Lawrence by Samuel de Champlain. From that time on, trade between the First Nations and the French primarily involved the sale of furs.
First Attempts at Settlement
The first attempts to establish permanent settlements in Gaspésie were made in the mid-17th century. Nicolas Denys, Pierre Denys and Denis Riverin were granted the first seigneuries. The first permanent fishing and trading posts were built in Percé and Mont-Louis where the fishing industry became so well developed that it was able to supply products to both New France and the Old World.
However, the development of the French fisheries in Gaspésie was hindered by many factors. Companies were chronically underfunded, and it was hard to attract colonists to such a harsh climate, particularly since English raids were increasing at this time.
War and Peace
Successive wars with England spilled over into North America, and the English began to launch expeditions against French posts along the coast from their wealthy New England colonies.
In Gaspésie, attacks by the Kirke brothers in 1628 and the destruction of Percé in 1689 were devastating. Because of France’s chronic lack of interest in its North American colonies and the difficulties it was encountering due to the Seven Years’ War, the English managed to expel their rivals once and for all from North America. In 1758, following the fall of Louisbourg, the English raided the coast of Gaspésie again before General Wolfe’s troops seized Québec City in 1759.
Cut off from the capital, Montréal was in such desperate straits that the following year a fleet of ships set sail from Bordeaux to bring supplies and ammunition to the colony. Unfortunately, it was too late to beat the English ships that had set out to head off this last-minute salvage attempt. The French ships sailed for Chaleur Bay and took refuge in the estuary of the Restigouche River where they met a number of Acadians also fleeing for their lives. This did not stop the English forces from surprising them and sinking the French ships after several days of violent combat.
Cod Fishery Development
After the Conquest, the fishing industry was finally able to develop. New establishments were founded, and former seigneuries were sold to merchants to serve as fishing posts. At the time, cod was the main catch. Fishermen aboard small boats used line fishing to catch cod near the shore from June to September. Other activities related to the fishery sprang into being and, over a short period of time, shipyards were established to build small boats while many fish salting warehouses were also built.
Whale fishing in Gaspé Bay as well as salmon fishing by the Mi’gmaq in many of the rivers in the Chaleur Bay area contributed to the expansion of this emerging industry.
Dried Cod: An Economic Driver
In 1767, Charles Robin, a native of Jersey, in the Channel Islands, arrived in Gaspésie to set up a fishing post in Paspébiac to process cod caught in the gulf. In the 1780s, Robin would build a virtual monopoly in the region. Ships laden with salt cod sailed for Québec City, the United States and Europe.
At that time, Gaspésie was almost entirely self-sufficient. In 1763, it officially became part of the Province of Québec. However, in practice, it remained isolated since it was difficult to sail up the St. Lawrence Estuary. To get there by land, travellers had to make their way through the backcountry where only canoe routes and portage trails existed.
Eventually, in response to the ever-present American threat, the government decided to build a military land link between Québec City and Halifax, cutting through virgin forests in Gaspésie. Finished in 1832, the Kempt Road linked the Métis area to Chaleur Bay via the Matapédia Valley. This road would open the way to the region’s development.
New Arrivals
Towards the end of the French regime, Gaspésie had only a few hundred inhabitants. After the English conquest, the Chaleur Bay area was colonized by Acadians who had been expelled from their lands in 1755 and had taken refuge in Restigouche.
In the 1780s, Gaspésie welcomed the Loyalists, English Americans who had remained loyal to the British crown after the American colonies gained their independence. The Mi’gmaq, Acadians and Loyalists were then joined by French Canadians, mostly from Québec City and Bas-Saint-Laurent, as well as a handful of Irish, Scots and Channel Islanders.
By about 1850, these communities made up a population of 20,000, of whom almost half were English-speaking. The population was mostly concentrated around Chaleur Bay, while inland areas and the north side of the peninsula remained almost uninhabited.
Moving into the 20th Century
By the late 19th century, the face of Gaspésie had changed considerably. Gaspésie finally became connected to the outside world at the turn of the 20th century, as the arrival of steamboats allowed faster travel from Québec City and other regions. Port facilities were also improved. The road was finally completed from Sainte-Anne-des-Monts to Gaspé, finishing the loop around the entire peninsula and opening the region to traffic. In addition, the railroad now linked the coast to the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula via the Matapédia Valley and the Chaleur Bay area.
During this period, the cod fishing industry began to decline. The companies founded by the Jersey Islanders Robin, Le Boutillier, Fruing and others faced a crisis. While traditional processing methods continued to be used, buyers’ tastes were changing radically. Fresh or frozen fish was becoming increasingly more popular than dried fish. The fishing industry began to diversify with the development of the lobster and herring fisheries. Many locals turned to farming, which had remained a marginal activity up until then because of the harsh climate and the region’s distance from the main trade markets.
Agriculture and Forestry
In response to Québec’s rapidly growing population (since families were so large), agricultural communities began to be established in Gaspésie. However, arable land was limited: only narrow strips along Chaleur Bay, in the Matapédia Valley and in the Métis and Matane areas were economically viable. At the time, most farming was still subsistence farming.
At the turn of the century, a new industry appeared: forestry. Until then, the forest had provided raw materials for small local shipyards, but this period saw the establishment of the lumber industry. The wood cut in the backcountry in the winter was driven downstream in the spring to sawmills located along the coast. The Price Company, one of the two companies that would later merge to become the Abitibi-Price multinational, set up a mill in the Métis area. However, most of the wood was processed in sawmills in New Brunswick or the United States.
Defending the Nation
Gaspésie had lived in peace for over 200 years when the Second World War shattered the tranquility of the region: German U-boats (submarines) appeared in the Gulf of St. Lawrence intent on sinking merchant marine vessels on their way to England.
In 1941, the Department of National Defense built a naval base in Gaspé, HMCS Fort Ramsay. This base housed 3000 soldiers, airmen and sailors whose mission was to patrol the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect Allied ships against German submarines. A huge anti-submarine net was stretched between Sandy Beach and Penouille to block the bay’s entrance to U-boats, while cannons were mounted at Fort Peninsula and Fort Prével.
Tourism Then and Now
From the early days of European settlement until the great social upheavals of the 1960s, the population of Gaspésie grew rapidly. Despite the diversification of the local economy, job creation was not enough to keep the growing labour force occupied, and many people began to emigrate from Gaspésie in the late 19th century. No longer able to rely on a steady flow of immigrants, the proportion of English speakers in Gaspésie slowly began to decline.
Since the 1950s, tourism has played an increasingly important role in the life of the region. During the summer, the Gaspésie Tour became popular among Québec residents as well as Europeans. In more recent years, Americans have also begun to discover the charm and beauty of the landscapes of Gaspésie.
Today, the region’s economy is centered on three sectors: fishing, forestry and tourism. These seasonal industries, along with related activities, represent 30% of the region’s economy. The sectors that generate the greatest number of jobs in Gaspésie are health and social services, retail trade, accommodations and food services, education, public administration, and food and beverage manufacturing and processing.
Source: Histoire de la Gaspésie by Jules Bélanger, Marc Desjardins and Yves Frenette, Boréal Express: 1981.
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