Rivière des Chutes
The Rivière des Chutes drains mainly the municipality of Saint-Narcisse, and also Saint-Stanislas, at the end of its course. These municipalities are located in the Les Chenaux Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Mauricie, in the province of Quebec, Canada.
The Rivière des Chutes flows over and drains a watershed of an area of .
River path
Premier rang des chutes (''English: First row of the Falls'')
Then the river veers to the South through the path of the "Grande ligne" to go running in the "Premier rang des chutes", in the Lordship of Champlain where it crosses 32 lots of land. The river then receives several small tributaries that drain the First and Second row of the Falls. On lot 314 of the "Premier rang des chutes", the river turns East to go back across the "Grande ligne" at lot 295 at northwest of the church of Saint-Narcisse, returning to flow in the Lordship of Batiscan.Bypassing the village
Crossing the "Rang Nord-Ouest de la rivière des chutes", the river bypasses the village of Saint-Narcisse from the north-east. The sawmill and flourmill of Albert Cossette was located in this river segment. From "Grande linge", going Eastward to Saint-Stanislas, two roads going along the river falls, are the row North Falls and row South Falls.In the south of the route 352">Quebec Route 352">route 352
Then, the river has cut route 352 on lot 81 of the same row. Then, the river turns to the east, in "Rang Est de la rivière des chutes" in parallel to the route 352 where it crosses 11 lots. Finally, the river enters in the territory of Saint-Stanislas in the "rang des Chutes Sud-Est" where it crosses six lots pointing to his mouth. The segment of the river located at the South of the route 352, runs in parallel to the Saint-Narcisse's moraine.Mouth
The "Rivière des Chutes" flows mainly in agricultural zone, sometimes marking several small coils, passing through some forested areas. It empties into the Batiscan River at the foot of the "Chutes des Ailes", and in front of the "Iles des Ailes". Behind these islands are the "chutes aux Ilets" . The mouth of the "rivière des chutes" is located at upstream of the dam of Saint-Narcisse and below the Murphy falls.Sanschagrin stream
The main tributary of "Rivière des Chutes" is Sanschagrin stream flowing south into the territory of Saint-Stanislas over a length of 3.3 km. This creek drains a watershed covering an area of 9.4 km². The mouth of the creek Sanchangrin which flows into the "Rivière des Chutes" is located at:- just south of route 352 between Saint-Stanislas to Saint-Narcisse,
- 0.7 km west of the mouth of the "rivière des chutes", and
- 3.3 km on the East of the church of Saint-Narcisse.
In Saint-Narcisse, "Rivière des Chutes" has always been a barrier to the transport of the first settlers, particularly if they wanted to reach the row Saint-Pierre. Except during frost season, settlers had to make a detour by using the bridge of "Rivière des chutes" on "Haute Grande-Ligne", then follow the road of the "Rivière des Chutes North", to reach the row Saint-Pierre.
History
The basin of the "Rivière des chutes" began to be colonized in the late eighteenth century. The pioneers were heading north, crossing the moraine of Saint-Narcisse, to settle on new plots of land because there was little available lots remaining in the valley of the Saint Lawrence River at the foot of the moraine of Saint-Narcisse.The sawmill Albert Cossette, powered by water flow, was erected in the North of the Falls River Falls. The dammed water was repressed by the mill up to the "Grande ligne". While the flour mill was located at the rear of sawmill.
Toponymy
The French name "Rivière des Chutes" comes from the fact that the river flows into the Batiscan River at the foot of the "Chutes de l'Aile". The mouth of the "Rivière des Chutes" is located in an area of a series of waterfalls downstream: Chute à Jimmy, Chute des Ailes and Chute à Murphy. This way of naming "Rivière des Chutes" help for pinpointing places for people traveling on the Batiscan River. In this area, travelers canoeing the river should make a long portage in order to bypass a series of falls.The name "Rivière des chutes" was formalized as of December 5, 1968 in the register of place names at the Commission de toponymie du Québec.