The Mistassini River is a river in central Quebec, Canada, draining into the north-western portion of Lac Saint-Jean

Lac Saint-Jean

Lac Saint-Jean is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated 206 kilometres north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of 1003 km² Lac Saint-Jean is a large, relatively...

. It is 298 kilometres (185.2 mi) long and has a watershed area of 21900 square kilometres (8,455.6 sq mi). Its source is between Eau Froide and De Vau Lakes in the northern-most portion of the Rivière-Mistassini Unorganized Territory

Rivière-Mistassini, Quebec

Rivière-Mistassini is an unorganized territory in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the regional county municipality of Maria-Chapdelaine...

, just east of the vast Baie-James Municipality

Baie-James, Quebec

The Municipality of Baie-James is in northern Quebec, Canada, to the east of James Bay. It covers 297,329.66 square kilometers of land, making it the largest incorporated municipality in Canada — only eight unorganized territories are larger...

.

Despite its name, Lake Mistassini

Lake Mistassini

Lake Mistassini is the largest natural lake by surface area in the province of Quebec, Canada, with a total surface area of approximately 2,335 km² and a net area of 2,164 km². It is located in the Jamésie region of the province, approximately east of James Bay...

 is not in the drainage basin of the Mistassini River, but is about 80 km (49.7 mi) west from its source. The Mistassini River is easily confused with its tributary, the Mistassibi River

Mistassibi River

The Mistassibi River is a river in central Quebec, Canada. It is long and has a drainage basin of . Its source is an area with unnamed lakes about east of Canso Bay of Lake Albanel, eastern neighbor of Lake Mistassini....

.

The upper portion of the river is characterized by a succession of rapids, waterfalls, and cascades. Only the last 25 kilometres (15.5 mi), from its mouth to Dolbeau-Mistassini, is navigable. Tributaries of the Mistassini River include the Papillon River, the Rivière des Framboises (Raspberry River), the Rivière aux Rats (Rat River), and the Mistassibi River

Mistassibi River

The Mistassibi River is a river in central Quebec, Canada. It is long and has a drainage basin of . Its source is an area with unnamed lakes about east of Canso Bay of Lake Albanel, eastern neighbor of Lake Mistassini....

.

History

During the 17th century and first half of the 18th century, the Mistassini River was regarded as one of the six primary access routes to Lake Mistassini. A 1679 map by Louis Jolliet

Louis Jolliet

Louis Jolliet , also known as Louis Joliet, was a French Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America...

 shows the river with the name Kakigoua, meaning "there where the sand is cut perpendicularly". Later the river is named Rivière aux Sables (Sand River) on maps by other cartographers such as Laure in 1731 and 1732, Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville , was both a geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. His maps of ancient geography, characterized by careful, accurate work and based largely on original research, are especially valuable...

 in 1755, and Jacques-Nicolas Bellin

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin

Jacques Nicolas Bellin was a French hydrographer, geographer, and member of the French intellectual group called the philosophes....

 in 1764. During his journey in 1792, botanist André Michaux

André Michaux

André Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...

 calls it the Mistassini River. It seems that the first topographic use of this name goes back to 1825. That year, Pascal Taché

Pascal Taché

Pascal Taché, , was the son of Jean Taché, a successful merchant and trader and the patriarch of this important Canadian family....

, Lord of Kamouraska

Kamouraska, Quebec

Kamouraska is a municipality on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Regional County Municipality of Kamouraska...

, publishes a cartographic document in which he gives the name Mistassini to the river.

Also, prominent Canadian paleontologist Diamanto DeParkington discovered Allosaurus

Allosaurus

Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek /allos and /sauros...

bones near the river's base in 1992; they are on display at the British Museum.