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He started by traveling the length and breadth of a 200-km radius around Saint-Jérôme to choose the best locations for future villages. He chose the sites based on the richness and fertility of the soil, on access to water ways and on the layout of the railway line he planned to build. In this manner he founded 29 townships and opened 20 parishes. In a span of approximately ten years, he helped over five thousand settlers to permanently establish themselves on their own piece of land. Despite their often difficult beginnings, the brave settlers, who were for the most part poor, benefited from the Father's goodness, from his generosity and vision. Father Labelle was not content to see his parishioners survive on meager crops. He wanted to help them farm their land so as to obtain a good return from their hard labor, through the avant-garde technique of ensilage and the application of fertilizers. He even anticipated the exportation of products to Europe. Father Labelle also wanted to mine the subsoil where a rich source of ore could be found, and develop cities and industries. He even sensed that one day tourism would be an important resource for the region. The inauguration of the Montréal-Saint-Jérôme railway line in 1879, the monster project of which he dreamed and for which he worked arduously, was an important contribution to the development of the region and the eventual growth of tourism. In December 1892, the whistle of the locomotive was heard for the first time by the residents of Saint-Jovite, putting an end to the isolation. The Economic Engine of the Region In 1938, when Joseph Bondurant Ryan, a young, wealthy American from Philadelphia who had come to the North to do some gold prospecting, stayed at the Gray Rocks Inn, the situation of the region's inhabitants was precarious. The alcohol factory had closed down, the lumber tract had been bled dry, sawmill owners were sending their employees home and the town was steeped in misery. The parish priest, Father Deslauriers, was about to ask for financial relief from the provincial government. However, help was not to come from the State. It was Jo Ryan who answered the prayers of the good Father. Taken by the beauty of the majestic "mountain of the spirits", the American had climbed to the summit accompanied by Harry Wheeler, the brother of the owner of the Gray Rocks Inn, and by Lowell Thomas, an American journalist. Upon seeing the breath-taking view of the snow-covered landscape, Jo Ryan had vowed to transform the wilderness at the foot of the mountain into a world-class alpine village. One year later, thanks to the hard work of the men who had come from the farms, the sawmills and the lumber camps in the lake Mercier region, and to Jo Ryan and Father Deslauriers' dogged determination, the dream was realized. In February 1939, Jo Ryan opened his alpine village, the Mont-Tremblant Lodge, with its architecture reminiscent of Old Quebec. For many years, the village greeted a great number of visitors from the surrounding areas as well as from Europe and the United-States, and enjoyed a solid reputation. The Dream Goes On In 1991, as the alpine village teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, the biggest promoter of alpine resorts announced that it would buy the Mont-Tremblant Lodge and promised to pursue Jo Ryan's dream...to make Mont-Tremblant one of the best leisure destinations in the world. Ten years later, the Mont-Tremblant Lodge has been transformed at a cost of $850 million into the magnificent pedestrian village of Tremblant. And in the next ten years, Intrawest has plans to build two more alpine villages on the North side and on the versant Soleil of the mountain. The Evolution Continues... Despite this evolution, the pioneers of our region have been and continue to be mindful of the precious environmental balance, for it is the beauty and the purity of this incredible land that seduced Jo Ryan, the French settlers and the Amerindians before them, and that continue even today to enchant all those who come to ski, to hike, to fish and to golf, or who simply come to rest outside of the metropolis. Neighbouring Municipalities Mont-Tremblant's neighbouring communities also have their own stories to tell and they proudly preserve monuments of the past. In the town of Brébeuf, the main link between the Outaouais region and Mont-Tremblant, you can cross the Prud'Homme bridge. This covered bridge, located on the rivière du Diable, was built in 1918 and restored in 1996. In Huberdeau, a village located on the banks of the Red River and owing its name to the Reverend Father Gédéon Huberdeau, one of the main attractions is its famous calvary, whose construction was begun in 1892. This first calvary was made up of wooden crosses; however, in 1910, the Montfortains Fathers sent for seven-foot high statues from Vaucouleur, France. The wooden crosses gave way to a magnificent bronze-metal calvary. You can also visit the Grotto of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes. In the village of Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré, there are two attractions that will catch your attention: Mont-Blanc, where in 1935 Guy Dufour built a wooden ski jump enabling him to host ski competitions over weekends, and the sugar shack Millette, where for over a 100 years, four generations of the Millette family have continued the tradition of a down-home product...maple syrup. Thank you to Tourism Mont Tremblant for this historical essay. |
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