Editing Lachine Rapids

{{Short description|Rapids in the Saint Lawrence river at Lachine, Quebec, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
[[Image:Rapides de Lachine 2.jpg|thumb|right|The Lachine Rapids]]
[[Image:Rapides de Lachine.JPG|thumb|right|The Lachine Rapids]]
The '''Lachine Rapids''' ({{langx|fr|Rapides de Lachine}}) are a series of [[rapids]] on the [[Saint Lawrence River]], between the [[Island of Montreal]] and the [[South Shore (Montreal)|South Shore]]. They are confusingly located near the borough of [[Lasalle, Quebec|Lasalle]] and not [[Lachine, Quebec|Lachine]].
The Lachine Rapids contain large [[standing waves]] because the water volume and current do not change with respect to the permanent features in the riverbed, namely its shelf-like drops. Seasonal variation in the water flow does not change the position of the waves, although it does change their size and shape. The rapids are about {{convert|4.8|km}} in length.
In the past these represented a considerable barrier to maritime traffic. Until the construction of the [[Lachine Canal]] through Montreal, the rapids had to be [[portage]]d. Even with the canal, the difficulty was such that it was usually more convenient to ship goods by rail to Montreal, where they could be loaded at the city's port. Montreal remains a major rail hub and one of Canada's largest ports for that reason.

The Lachine Rapids are now passed by the South Shore Canal (Saint-Lambert and Côte Sainte-Catherine locks) of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].

== Wildlife ==
The rapids contain a number of islands used by [[migratory birds]].<ref>[http://www.pqspb.org/birdingsites.htm Birding sites] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20050209102537/http://www.pqspb.org/birdingsites.htm |date=2005-02-09 }}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Rapides de lachine 1890.png|thumbnail|left|Boat crossing the rapids, ca. 1890]]
The first European to see the rapids was [[Jacques Cartier]], who sailed up the [[St. Lawrence River]] in 1535, believing he had found the [[Northwest Passage]]. In 1611, [[Samuel de Champlain]] named the rapids Sault Saint-Louis, after a teenaged crewman named Louis who drowned here; the name later extended to [[Lac Saint-Louis]]. This name remained in use until the mid-19th century, but later came to be replaced by the name of the adjacent town of Lachine.<ref>[http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/topos/carto.asp?Speci=33166&Latitude=45,41805&Longitude=-73,59055&Zoom=1700 Commission de toponymie du Québec - Rapides de Lachine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222132547/http://www.toponymie.gouv.qc.ca/ct/topos/carto.asp?Speci=33166&Latitude=45,41805&Longitude=-73,59055&Zoom=1700 |date=2015-12-22 }}</ref> The name "Lachine" itself is derived from the French name for China - La Chine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://canadaehx.com/2020/06/27/the-lacine-canal/ |title=The Lacine Rapids |website=Canadian History Ehx |accessdate=January 17, 2025}}</ref>

The first Europeans known to have traveled above these rapids were Champlain and [[Étienne Brûlé]] on 13 June 1611. Brûlé continued upriver to live among the [[Algonquin people|Algonquin]], while Champlain himself would not travel further up the [[Ottawa River]] until May 1613.  [[Louis Jolliet]]'s July 1674 canoe accident in the rapids destroyed his official report on the existence of the [[Mississippi River]], and raised the standing of his fellow explorer [[Jacques Marquette]].<ref>"[https://archive.org/details/newcolumbiaencyc00harr/page/1428/mode/2up?q=Anticosti&view=theate Jolliet or Joliet, Louis]" in ''The New Columbia Encyclopedia''. Columbia University, 1975.</ref>  

The first person to design a ship capable of shooting the Lachine Rapids was shipbuilder and carpenter John McQuaid, a native of [[County Armagh]], Ireland who later settled in [[Kingston, Ontario]] with his family.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

== Recreation ==
[[Whitewater rafting]] and jet boat expeditions to the rapids are available in Montreal. [[Whitewater kayaking]] has become popular, along with [[river surfing]], on a [[Habitat 67 (standing wave)|standing wave adjacent to the Habitat 67]].({{coord|45|30|00|N|73|32|31|W|type:landmark_scale:2500}}).<ref>[http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/montreal.htm UK rivers guidebook] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011858/http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/montreal.htm |date=2007-09-28 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.montrealmirror.com/2005/060905/hsg2.html Montreal Mirror]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070208071351/http://www.2imagine.net/construction/habitat.html Habitat]</ref>

The city maintains [[Des_Rapides_Park|Des Rapids Park]] which doubles as bird sanctuary and a place for visitors to appreciate the rapids.

[[Image:lachine-rapids.jpg|center|thumb|700px|The Lachine rapids, seen from the borough of [[LaSalle, Quebec|LaSalle]]]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Landforms of Montreal]]
[[Category:Portages in Canada]]
[[Category:Saint Lawrence River]]
[[Category:Landforms of Montérégie]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Montérégie]]
[[Category:Lachine, Quebec]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Quebec]]
[[Category:Rapids of Canada]]