The first real inhabitants of the area were
Indigenous peoples of the Americas –
Algonquins,
Innu and
Métis – who lived near Lake Kapibouska.
Mission. The Saint-Juste de Kapibouska mission was set up for the Aboriginal people living at Kapibouska Lake. At the beginning of the 19th century,
missionaries visited the territory.
Pioneers. In the early 1830s, lumber yards were booming on the
Rivière des Envies. The first settler of French-Canadian origin settled around 1833 in the area of the future city of Saint-Tite. Over time, several other pioneers were established. Apart from the missionaries' visits, the settlers had to travel several kilometers to reach the church of St. Stanislaus. The first chapel-presbytery was built in the 1850s. The first resident priest arrived in 1859.
Easter water. From the beginning of colonization, it is likely that gathering
Easter water was a common practice among members of the Christian community. In 1995, the first organized harvest and the blessing of Easter water took place at the Curé Boutet spring. The faithful get their feet wet, get dirty with mud, some fall on patches of ice. Safety and accessibility are the reasons for the construction of
temporary sets. Today, throughout Quebec, this practice has become increasingly rare, becoming a social gathering or even a tourist activity. On Easter Sunday, we will have the celebration of Easter water at 4:30 a.m. before sunrise at the Curé spring at the end of Rue du Couvent. Afterwards, we will gather as a big family for a fraternal lunch at the Seniors' Club room around 5:30 am (Breakfast with baked beans, maple syrup and bread rolls, served by
members of the Pastoral Council, free of charge). Source: The parish leaflet of the Christian community of the parish of Saint-Tite, April 12, 1998.
Railway Fever 1878: The vast territory north of the St. Lawrence Plain, with its opening onto the immensity of the
Canadian Shield, evokes grandiose dreams. In 1878, St. Laurence, Lower Laurentian & Saguenay obtained permission to build a track between
Trois-Rivières and
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean via Saint-Tite.
Note:
Kapibouska: of Algonquian origin, this name means "place of camp where there are reeds", kapi, "place of camp", baska or bouska "rushes", "reeds". The coat of arms of Saint-Tite is blazoned thus: Greek cross gules a chief azure point, flanked by a toothed wheel segment money dexter and a gear segment sinister gold, containing a skin tight leather gold dextral and sinistral spruce money, overcoming mountains of sand placed on a terrace or charged with a blue river. ==Geography==