| Sainte-Marie River | |
| Pushpin Map: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Quebec |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Côte-Nord |
| Subdivision Type4: | RCM |
| Subdivision Name4: | Minganie |
| Subdivision Type5: | Island |
| Subdivision Name5: | Anticosti Island |
| Source1: | Lake Sainte-Marie |
| Source1 Location: | L'Île-d'Anticosti |
| Mouth: | Gulf of Saint Lawrence |
| Mouth Location: | L'Île-d'Anticosti |
| Tributaries Left: | (upstream) Paul Pond discharge, three streams, Nelson Lake discharge, two streams. |
| Tributaries Right: | (upstream) five streams, discharge from Lac de la Tour, a stream. |
The Sainte-Marie River (French: Rivière Sainte-Marie) is a tributary of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, flowing in the municipality of L'Île-d'Anticosti, in the Minganie Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Côte-Nord, in province of Quebec, in Canada.
The Sainte-Marie River is the most westerly river in the SÉPAQ Anticosti territory. The "Rivière-Sainte-Marie" sports camp was built during the 20th century, west of the mouth of this stream.
The main forest road (east-west) of Anticosti Island serves the upper part of this valley. A network of secondary roads connect to this main road, as well as to the west to a forest road network for forestry purposes.
Forestry is the main economic activity in this area; recreational tourism activities, second.
The Sainte-Marie river draws its source from Lake Sainte-Marie (length: almost round in shape; altitude:) located in the central-western part of the Anticosti Island. This lake has a marsh area on the north side and the south side. The mouth of Lac Sainte-Marie is located at:
From its source, the Sainte-Marie River flows south between the Bec-Scie River (located on the west side) and Rivière aux Cailloux (located on the east side). Its course descends on towards the south with a drop of, according to the following segments:
The Sainte-Marie river empties on the south shore of Anticosti Island, i.e. east of the mouth of Baleine stream, at west of Cap Sainte-Marie where the Sainte-Marie river flows and east of the center of the village of Port-Menier.[1]
The toponyms "Cap Sainte-Marie", "rivière Sainte-Marie" and "Camp sportif Rivière-Sainte-Marie" are linked.
The toponymic designation “Sainte-Marie River” is one of the oldest on Anticosti Island. It appears on the Map of Canada (or of New France), designed by Guillaume Delisle in 1703. The toponym “Rivière Ste Marie” appears in 1904 on a map drawn up by Joseph Schmitt, designating the watercourse west of the toponym "Falaises Ste Marie".
The Commission de toponymie du Québec believes that this toponym was originally attributed by the explorer Louis Jolliet, who had become the owner of the island since 1680; he would have designated it in honor of his eldest daughter Marie-Charlotte. After becoming the owner of the island, Louis Jolliet spent his summers in the western part of Anticosti Island, where he had built a house.
The toponym "rivière Sainte-Marie" was made official on December 5, 1968.[2]