French-Canadian settlement began in 1833 when Pierre Brochu moved to Lake Matapedia along Kempt Road.

[3] Silas Tertius Rand, a noted linguist and source from the late nineteenth century, indicated that the Mi'kmaq named the area Magabegeak which means "roughly flowing".

[12] From north to south, it runs a length of 375 km (233 mi) until it reaches the Restigouche River to the east, which borders New Brunswick.

The Matapedia Valley is dug into the Chic-Choc mountain range, which is situated at the northern extremity of the Appalachians.

It has two main bodies of water: Lake Matapedia, which extends from Sayabec to Amqui, and Lac-au-Saumon, situated in a town by the same name.

The northwest region of the valley is rather flat and surrounded by small mounts that do not exceed 400 metres (1,300 ft).

[citation needed] The main agricultural municipalities of the valley are Amqui, Causapscal, Saint-Damase, Val-Brillant, and Saint-Léon-le-Grand.

[15] The Mi'kmaq and Maliseet lived in the territory of the Matapedia Valley before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

[16] In violation of laws of the time which required a lord to develop his land, D'Amours never even set foot in the valley, nor did he send anyone.

[18][19] The region remained inhabited by the Mi'kmaqs until 1818, when several Scottish families built houses in Métis, and many loyalists settled on the Restigouche River.

This was done in order to connect Métis on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River to Pointe-à-la-Croix near Chaleur Bay.

[20]: 35 [21] In Topographie du Bas-Canada, Joseph Bouchette wrote that the Matapedia Valley is a land conducive to becoming an agricultural center of importance.

Residents of Gaspesia had been demanding means of communication with the urban centre for some time, as outside of navigation season, they were cut off from the world by ice.

At that time, the postal service operated via a rudimentary path from the Kamouraska seigneurie to Lake Témiscouata, then following the Madawaska and St. John rivers.

[20]: 40–41  In his report, Crawford also mentions that there was no pedestrian path in the Matapedia Valley, and that it would be beneficial to the region's population to construct one.

At a Quebec conference in October 1864, the decision was made to join the Intercolonial Railway to the Grand Trunk at Rivière-du-Loup.

[17] Paired with the Matapedia and Kempt roads, this railway acted as a catalyst for demographic development in the valley.

In the west of the valley, along the Mitis River on the Matapedia Road, was the first parish to be canonically erected in 1868: Sainte-Angèle-de-Merici.

[22] In 1860, missionary Georges-Antoine Belcourt was granted a concession for poor families in his parish, prompting him to colonize the Matapedia Valley.

[20]: 30  Finally, the parish of La Rédemption was created in 1936 as part of a government stimulation plan following the Great Depression.

Logging companies such as John Fenderson Lumber, Price Bros., and Brown Corporation built the industrial framework necessary for the growth of the valley's villages.

Additionally, one can observe the Acadian flag in many municipalities in the area, notably Amqui, Causapscal, and Lac-au-Saumon.