In 1863, the foundation of a permanent mission was considered necessary. For a dozen years, itinerant missionaries had been going as far as the Temiscamingue in Maniwaki. They went up the Gatineau River, crossed a portage to reach Lake Victoria, passed Lake Temiscamingue, then Lake Abitibi and James Bay.
They settled at the tip of Upper Canada opposite Fort Temiscamingue in Lower Canada, later Ontario and Quebec. The mission took the name of Saint Claude. Father Jean-Marie Pian, O.M.I. was its founder.
Furs were not the only natural resources. The Outaouais pine had, like the beaver, a worldwide reputation. It was shipped to England for shipbuilding.
In 1887, the Saint Claude Mission site was abandoned. The Algonquin mission was moved to the head of the lake (Notre-Dame du Nord). Religious, school and hospital services followed the population.
Eugène Lapointe OMI
