History Articles | Gaspesian Heritage WebMagazine

Jacques Cartier's Cross

Author:

Gaspé Tourism Office and Convention Board

Although Jacques Cartier has planted five crosses during his travels from 1534 and 1535-36, only one, planted in Gaspé in July 1534, marks his official taking possession of the new territory on behalf of the king of France, Francis I. On August 25, 1934, during the 400th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of Cartier in Gaspé, the Historic Sites and Monuments of Canada unveiled a cross in Gaspé made of granite measuring 10 meters high and weighing 29 tons.

Array

From Acadia to Québec: Acadians in Québec and in the Gaspé

Author:

Musée acadien du Québec à Bonaventure

The earliest settlements in Acadia (1604) were among the first efforts to establish a French colony in the New World. Located in what has become Nova Scotia, originally named Arcadia by Verazzano in 1524, this historical Acadia was the result of sustained immigration from France, mainly after 1632.

Array

Life in a Cascapedia Bay Lumber Camp

Author:

Peggy Willett

When the first settlers arrived on the Gaspésie forests covered the entire Coast and, although trees were a necessity, they were sometimes viewed as a nuisance by men trying to clear enough land for crops and animals. It was very easy to obtain all the wood they needed by going a very short distance to the dense forest that surrounded them with their axes, saws and a horse and sleigh.

Array

William Cuthbert, 1794-1854, of Cascapedia Bay

Author:

Peggy Willett

One of the early settlers to whom the region, specifically the Cascapedia Bay area, is greatly indebted for its early development is William Cuthbert, a native of Scotland and descendant of that ancient Scottish family, of which theeighth century monk St. Cuthbert was a member.

Array

The Big Fish

Author:

Erin McWhirter (Age 16, Bonaventure Polyvalent School, previously published by CASA)

One day on the Gaspé in 1939 a man by the name of Esmond B. Martin caught the largest Atlantic salmon ever taken in North American waters, here on our own river the Grand Cascapedia.

Array

Fascinating Forillon, Part 1

Author:

Cynthia Dow

This is the first part of a series written by Cynthia Dow and published in SPEC in 1995 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Forillon National Park. The series is dedicated to the memory of the late Elwood Dow and his wife Gerty Gavey, uncle and aunt of the author, whose Indian Cove home was expropriated to make way for the Park.

Array

From Jersey to the Gaspé: Charles Robin, 1743-1824, a Forgotten Father of Canada (Part 1)

Author:

Betty Le Maistre

Why would anyone want to leave the lush, prosperous, semi-tropical island of Jersey and sail for weeks half-way around the world to reach the cold, empty and desolate Gaspé Coast on the eastern seaboard of Canada?

Array

From Jersey to the Gaspé: Charles Robin, 1743-1824, a Forgotten Father of Canada (Part 2)

Author:

Betty Le Maistre

(Continued from Part 1: http://gaspesie.quebecheritageweb.com/article/jersey-gaspe-charles-robin...)

Array

Miss Martha Baillie, A Community Treasure

Author:

CASA (with information supplied by Heather Edwards)

The presence of the Baillie Family in the small village of Fleurant Point dates back to 1841, when Thomas Baillie emigrated from Scotland to America on the same boat as well-known fellow Scotsman and emigrant, Sir John A. MacDonald, who some years later would become Canada’s first Prime Minister.

Array

Musée de la Gaspésie acquires archives from the Robin store in Bonaventure

Author:

Musée de la Gaspésie

In January, the Musée de la Gaspésie obtained the archives of the Robin store of Bonaventure. Mrs. Josée Barette, daughter of Juliette Gauthier and Douglas Barette, generously offered the documents to the Centre d’archives de la Musée de la Gaspésie.

The Centre is the only private centre in the Gaspé region to be accredited by the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. The Centre preserves documents of a regional interest, and is accessible to the general public of the region.

Array