Louis-Pierre Gravel

Louis-Pierre Gravel was a French-Canadian missionary and colonizer who founded the town of Gravelbourg in Saskatchewan, Canada. He was born in Stanfold (now called Princeville), Quebec, on August 8, 1868, and was ordained as priest on August 28, 1892, after finishing his studies at seminaries in Trois-Rivières, Nicolet and Montreal, Quebec. After serving in parishes in New York City from 1892 to 1906, he was asked to found a French-Canadian parish in the south-west of Saskatchewan. In 1906, he founded the town of Gravelbourg. Aiding him in his endeavours were five of his brothers, Henri and Maurice, both doctors; Alphonse and Emile, both lawyers; Guy, a pharmacist; plus a sister, Laurianne, the wife of Georges Hébert, also a lawyer. He persuaded many French-Canadian Catholics to settle in the Gravelbourg, Lafleche, Mazenod, and Meyronne block settlement. Gravel died in Montreal on February 10, 1926, and was buried in Gravelbourg.

Legacy

Louis-Pierre Gravel was designated a person of national historic significance in 1956.