 Baie-Sainte-Catherine has the reputation of being the location of the historic meeting on May 27, 1603, between François Gravé Du Pont and Samuel de Champlain and the leaders of three Indian nations with whom they concluded an agreement that opened the Saint Lawrence River to French explorers.On the stormy evening of November 27, 1686, the ship "La Catherine" went aground and sank in the bay at the mouth of the Saguenay River.On the 1731 map by Laure, this bay was identified as ""Ance à la Catherine"" (archaic French for "Catherine Cove").