Река Гатineau: История названия и развития региона

River in western Quebec, Canada
In his 1889 article published in the Echo de la Gatineau, Benjamin Sulte wrote: "One hundred years ago, the Gatineau family was extinct, or thereabouts; it is hardly likely that we waited for its disappearance to consecrate the memory of the three or four fur traders it produced. The custom must have been established during the lifetime of these men, and because they traded in these places. Of the latter fact, for instance, I am not certain." In his own words, Sulte writes that he is creating a myth and that the story that the Gatineau family gave the river its name is a myth, invented by Sulte himself. According to Sulte, the name Gatineau comes from the Gastineau family not Gatineau one of its members, Nicolas Gastineau sieur Duplessis (1627 1689). The toponym Lettinoe, Gateno, Gatteno and Gatineau appears:
The name Lettinoe, in a report by a Lieutenant Jones in 1783;
The names Gateno, Gatteno, and Gatenoe in several documents and letters written by Philemon Wright, Colonel John By, and by surveyor Theodore Davis (1800 to 1831);
On the topographical description of the area in 1831 by Canadian surveyor Joseph Bouchette;
In a letter dated May 22, 1838 from Bishop Lartigue of Montreal to Bishop Patrick Phelan of Kingston;
On William Henderson's map of 1831;
On Thomas Devine's map in 1861.

From the 19th century until 1991, the river was used to transport logs to sawmills near the mouth of the river. Philemon Wright and his descendants played an important role in the development of the lumber industry in the Gatineau valley. In more recent times, with declining quality in the forests of the region, logs were used for pulp and paper. The river has been extensively dammed and is an important source of hydroelectric power. In 1925, three hydroelectric dams were constructed along the lower Gatineau River, making them one of the biggest economic and industrial projects in the region's history. These are now known today as the Paugan, Chelsea and Rapides Farmers Hydroelectric Stations (Centrale Paugan, Centrale Chelsea and Centrale Rapides Farmers). The stations are located within the municipalities of Low, Cantley and Gatineau. The Hull–Chelsea–Wakefield Railway, a tourist steam train, followed a route up the Gatineau valley to Wakefield. In 1915, Canadian artist and member of the Group of Seven J. E. H. MacDonald would depict logging operations on the river is his painting, Logs on the Gatineau.

In the spring of 1974, there was extensive flooding along the Gatineau.