A map dating from 1924 has three distinct water bodies, not connected to each other, on the site of the present Lake Bureau. The gradual raising of water, caused by the creation of the Gouin Reservoir in 1948, led to the merger of the Great South Lake and the lakes of the North and East, creating a new lake entity. This hydronym which has been official since 1935, evokes the work of life of Joseph Bureau (1837-1914). Born in L'Ancienne-Lorette, in the suburbs of
Quebec City, this explorer-cartographer has greatly contributed to pushing back the frontiers of
Quebec topographic knowledge by traversing it in all directions, from
Labrador at
Outaouais and
St. Lawrence River at
Hudson Bay. His services were retained in particular in 1870 to establish the best route for the construction of a railway to the
Lac Saint-Jean and
Mauricie. The following year, it goes back with John Bignell the
Saint-Maurice to its source, the "lake of the Male", now integrated into
Gouin reservoir. In 1872, Bureau agreed to direct the maneuver floating logs on this river. For a long time associated with the cure Labelle for the opening of territories favorable to the colonization of the north, it is interested then with the establishment of a railway since
Quebec (city) as far as the Atlantic coast, then explores a large part of the
Côte-Nord. Until the end of his life, Joseph Bureau remained active. Lake Bureau also bears the name Attikamek Opiskaw Sakahikan, High Lake. The toponym "Lac Bureau" was formalized on December 18, 1986, by the [Commission de toponymie du Quebec]. == Notes and references ==