The area is considered the cradle of the Côte-Nord Amerindian, who have lived there for thousands of years. The
Innu (Montagnais) and
Mi'kmaq frequented the area, particularly in the spring to gather berries that covered the rocks and adorned the mossy plains. The first Europeans in the area were the
Basques around the 1630s. In 1723, a cross was erected in honour of Our Dame of Bon-Désir, thereafter the place was also known as Bon-Desir. That same year the Mission of Saint-Marcellin was founded. But the first permanent European settler in Escoumins was Joseph Moreau, an employee of the
Hudson's Bay Company, who arrived in 1825. It wasn't until 1845 that a real village began to form when many families from the south shore of the
St. Lawrence River, especially from
Trois-Pistoles,
Rivière-Ouelle,
Rimouski, and a group of
Charlevoix settled there. In 1853, the local post office opened. The timber trade caused the village to grow rapidly when logs were floated down the Escoumins River from the cutting area to the Bay des Escoumins where they were loaded in barges. In 1863, the Municipality of Les Escoumains was formed. In the beginning of 1957, the spelling of the municipality's name was corrected to the current form. == Geography ==