Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 9.
Footnote to History
Attracting settlers to the Gatineau
In promotional literature put out in 1905 the Gatineau was described in the following manner:
“Its resources from the triple point of view of agriculture, trade and commerce are immense and the future which awaits it is most brilliant . . . The farmer, who understands how to turn the natural fertility of the soil to profit and the facility of selling its products, is sure, if not of becoming very rich, of at least amassing, very quickly, an honest competence . . . Farming, in fact, is the most profitable."
Throughout this period the Quebec Government was also doing its best to attract settlers to the Shield. ln 1907 the Government published a guide for prospective settlers in which the conditions for the sale of Crown Lands were set out and the Shield was praised as an ideal farming area.
To purchase a lot in the Gatineau area the settler was directed to the local Crown Lands agent in Hull, Gracefield or Maniwaki, depending on where he wished to locate. Land was available at thirty cents an acre in blocks of up to 200 acres. The total purchase price was required in five equal instalments, the first a down payment, and at least one payment per year thereafter. The settler had to take possession of the land within six months of his agreeing to purchase. He had to erect a habitable house of at least sixteen feet by twenty feet and to reside in it for two years. He was required to clear ten acres out of each 100 acres every year but, before his patent was issued, to cut only the timber needed for buildings or fuel. The title was not issued for two years or until all the conditions were met even if the land was fully paid for.
Courtesy of Helen E. Parson