Bellegarde is located just south of Highway 13 (the Red Coat Trail), near the Manitoba border and in south-eastern Saskatchewan.

Jean Gaire, a newly arrived young priest from France, founded the parish of Grande-Clairière in Manitoba, St. Maurice of Bellegarde did not exist.

By 1891, under the guidance of Father Jean-Isidoire Gaire, settlers residing in Grande-Clairière took homesteads at what they called, "La Quatrième Coulée" or the Fourth Creek.

In 1892, they left full of enthusiasm to settle the Quatrième Coulée with bags and luggage, oxen and plows.

On his return, Mgr Gaire discovered that Cyrille Sylvestre had taken four homesteads at the Quatrième Coulée with the intention of settling there permanently with his family.

[7] In 1889, families arriving at Grande Clairière from Luxembourg, Belgium took up homesteads at St. Maurice.

They looked after the boarding facilities and taught French and Catholic education for both boys and girls.