Mistassini

Mistassini, Qué, was a separate municipality (inc 1976) until it merged with Dolbeau to form the city of Dolbeau-Mistassini. Mistassini in Cree means "large stone." Settlement dates from 1892, when the Trappist fathers from Oka came to found a monastery on Rivière Mistassini in the forests north of Lac Saint-Jean. The monks also built a flour mill and a sawmill. Its population grew with the construction of the Dolbeau paper mill (1927) and power stations on the Rivière Péribonka (1954-60). The town's growth forced the monastery to move to the nearby countryside (1979).