History
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 crewman 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.
The first person to design a ship capable of shooting the Lachine Rapids was shipbuilder and carpenter John McQuaid, a County Armagh, Ireland native who later settled in Kingston, Ontario with his family.
Read more about this topic: Lachine Rapids
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