Restigouche River
The Restigouche River is a
Canadian river located in the northwestern part of the province of
New Brunswick and the southeastern part of
Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the
Appalachian Mountains to
Chaleur Bay and measures approximately 200 kilometres in length. It is fed by several tributaries flowing south from Quebec's Notre Dame Mountains on the western edge of the Gasp? Peninsula and the Upsalquitch River flowing north from New Brunswick's
Chaleur Uplands.
Located mostly in New Brunswick, it forms the inter-provincial boundary between the two provinces from its confluence with the Patap?dia River to its mouth at Dalhousie, New Brunswick/Miguasha, Qu?bec.
Encyclopedia
The
Restigouche River is a
Canadian river located in the northwestern part of the province of
New Brunswick and the southeastern part of
Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the
Appalachian Mountains to
Chaleur Bay and measures approximately 200 kilometres in length. It is fed by several tributaries flowing south from Quebec's Notre Dame Mountains on the western edge of the
Gaspé Peninsula and the Upsalquitch River flowing north from New Brunswick's
Chaleur Uplands.
Located mostly in New Brunswick, it forms the inter-provincial boundary between the two provinces from its confluence with the Patapédia River to its mouth at Dalhousie, New Brunswick/Miguasha, Québec.
The
estuary of the river is an important stopover for sea ducks, especially
Black Scoters and Sea Scoters, during
migration and has been designated a Canadian Important Bird Area.
History
The name
Restigouche/
Ristigouche is thought to be derived from the
Mi'kmaq word
Listuguj .
Home to the
Mi'kmaq Nation for centuries, the Restigouche watershed is a land of many mountains and unspoiled vistas, as well as significant
timber resources. French settlers established several communities on its banks during the
17th and
18th centuries but the area remained largely void of European settlement until the decades following the
Seven Years' War.
The establishment of the colony of
New Brunswick for
United Empire Loyalists refugees following the
American Revolutionary War saw modest influx of several families to the area but the most significant impact came from
Scottish settlers following the Highland Clearances. Many Scottish families found work in the infancy of the timber industry and were at the forefront of industrialization of the forests throughout the
19th and early
20th centuries. The Restigouche River and its tributaries became a highway for log drives, bringing timber to the dozens of
sawmills at
Campbellton and Dalhousie. Further industrialization saw pulp and paper mills established in those communities by the
1930s to take advantage of the Restigouche watershed's timber resources.
Salmon fishing
The river is world-renowned for its
Atlantic Salmon fishing. Fly fishing/angling has become a significant source of revenue for many outfitters in the region and a 55 kilometre stretch of the Restigouche has been designated part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System as a result.
For more than 100 years, the world's wealthiest people have come to enjoy the river's tranquil beauty and perfect canoeing conditions to fish for salmon. Among the VIPs who have been guests at the river's fishing lodges include the
Duke of Windsor and
Wallis Simpson,
Hubert H. Humphrey,
Ted Williams,
Lord Beaverbrook,
Bing Crosby,
Louis St. Laurent,
Maurice Richard,
Norman Schwarzkopf,
George H. W. Bush, and
Brian Mulroney, to name but a few.
Part of the draw for salmon fishing on rivers in New Brunswick is its exclusivity - the provincial government's Department of Natural Resources auctions fishing leases for physical sections of the river and riverbed to the highest bidder. Many private fishing lodges have been established on the Restigouche which are owned and operated by major corporations and the wealthy. Such leases are time-limited and, for the best fishing pools, can reportedly run into the millions of dollars for fishing rights lasting for only a few years. Leaseholders must obey all provincial conservation laws by hiring their own fish wardens to patrol each leased section of the river and all persons sanctioned by a particular leaseholder to fish in a lease must hold a provincial angling license. The general public are permitted a right of navigation on the river, as per Canada's
Navigable Waters Protection Act, however they are not permitted to drop anchor in, or cause any disturbance to the river bottom, and absolutely not permitted to fish in a particular lease area.
New Brunswick's wealthy Irving family has owned a lodge for many years at one of the best fishing holes on the river - the confluence of the Kedgwick with the Restigouche - and the Government of New Brunswick also maintains a "rustic" lodge in nearby Larry's Gulch which has operated as an exclusive resort/get away for politicians and friends of the government in office.
William Kissam Vanderbilt enjoyed fishing on the river so much that he had a private fishing lodge built, hiring the famous
New York City architect
Stanford White to design and oversee construction of the property called Kedgwick Lodge and fuelling the love affair of corporate America with the Restigouche.
The Canadian business elite outside of the
Maritimes haven't been nearly as enamoured with the river as Americans, although several prominent
Toronto families including the
Eatons did have a presence. This is largely due to geography where
Boston,
New York and
Philadelphia were relatively close helping make the region a small summer colony.
