O'Sullivan River

The O'Sullivan River is a tributary of Lake Waswanipi, which is crossed on the North by the Waswanipi River (the James Bay drainage). The O'Sullivan River flows North into the Abitibi Regional County Municipality, and into Eeyou Istchee James Bay (municipality), in the Nord-du-Québec, in Quebec, in Canada.

O’Sullivan
Watershed of Nottaway River
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality)
Physical characteristics
Source	Unidentified lake
• location	Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), Nord-du-Québec, Quebec
• coordinates	48°44′48″N 76°25′39″W
• elevation	405 m (1,329 ft)
Mouth	Lake Waswanipi
• location	Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), Nord-du-Québec, Quebec
• coordinates	49°27′57″N 76°28′05″W
• elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Length	101.3 km (62.9 mi)[1]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Mossant creek.
• right	(from the mouth) Discharge of lake Sheilann, discharge of lake Cahpiteau.

The course of the O'Sullivan River crosses the townships of Charrette, Adhémar, Labrie, Ralleau, Ruette, Benoit, Duplessis and Bossé.

Geography

The surrounding hydrographic slopes of the O'Sullivan River are:

• north side: Lake Waswanipi, Waswanipi River;
• east side: Wetetnagami River, Mégiscane River;
• south side: Louison Lake, Delestres River;
• west side: Mossant Creek, Lecompte River, Robin River (Parent Lake).

A little unnamed lake (length: 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi)) is the headwater body of the O'Sullivan River. This lake is located southeast of Castonguay Lake, north of Louison Lake, about 75 kilometres (47 mi) northeast of Senneterre (parish), Abitibi-Témiscamingue. This head lake obtains some 15 small lakes upstream and nearby.

From the small head lake, the O'Sullivan River flows over:

• 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) westerly, then northerly to the south shore of Castonguay Lake, which the current flows northward on 10.7 kilometres (6.6 mi), i.e. on its full length;
• 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi) northerly to the south shore of Gaillard Lake, where the current crosses over 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) to the northeast;
• 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) northerly to Butterfly Lake (length: 9.5 kilometres (5.9 mi)) as the current flows northward on 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi);
• 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) northerly to the south bank of the "Lake of the Line" which the current flows northward on 9.4 kilometres (5.8 mi);
• 3.0 kilometres (1.9 mi) northerly, to the south shore of Novellet Lake, where the current flows 5.3 kilometres (3.3 mi) north; Lake Novellet receives the waters of the Sheilann Lake outlet from the east;
• 26.8 kilometres (16.7 mi) northwesterly to a south discharge;
• 7.7 kilometres (4.8 mi) northerly and westerly to its mouth on the south shore of Puticamica Lake (length: 19.6 kilometres (12.2 mi)) that the current flows westward on 7.1 kilometres (4.4 mi);
• 9.0 kilometres (5.6 mi) northerly to the south shore of Lake Waswanipi that the current flows through on 18.1 kilometres (11.2 mi) then merge to the current of Waswanipi River.

Toponymy

The natives used the name "Pusticamica" to designate this watercourse.

At the request of the Commission de toponymie du Canada, the name "Rivière O'Sullivan" has been attributed to evoke the work of life of Henry O'Sullivan ([[Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault] ]], 1845 - Loretteville, 1912). After studying at Laval University in 1869, O'Sullivan worked as a land surveyor, geologist and explorer in the Department of Lands and Forests. O'Sullivan explored much of Labrador, Gaspésie, all of Nord-du-Québec [2] · [3]  · [4].

The toponym O'Sullivan River was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the Bank of Place Names of the Commission de toponymie du Québec[5].

Notes and references

1. "Atlas of Canada". atlas.nrcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
2. Source: "Fifth Report of the Geographic Board of Canada", containing all decisions to June 30 1904, Ottawa, SE Dawson, 1905, p. 47.
3. Benoît-Beaudry GOURD, Toponymic Route of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Québec, Commission de toponymie du Québec, 1984, p. 20. (Toponymic studies and research, 8).
4. Nazaire LEVASSEUR, "Henry O'Sullivan", Bulletin of the Quebec Geographical Society, Volume 6, No. 3, May-June 1912, p. 195-196.
5. qc.ca/ct/ToposWeb/fiche.aspx?no_seq=45937 Commission de toponymie du Quebec - Bank of Place Names - Toponym: "O'Sullivan River"

See also

• Miquelon, a hamlet
• Chapais, a municipality
• Waswanipi River, a watercourse
• Lake Waswanipi, a body of water
• Waswanipi, a village Cree
• Eeyou Istchee Baie-James (municipality), a municipality
• James Bay
• List of rivers of Quebec