Under QuÄbec's Repatriation Act of 1875, every head of family could select forty hectares, with a dwelling house and 1.6 hectares ready for seeding, at the regular price of sixty cents per .4 hectare, plus $140 for the improvements. This was to be repaid in ten years, the lot itself during the first five and the $140 (interest-free) during the last five. But most colonists chose the alternative of clearing the first 1.6 hectares themselves, building their own dwellings and receiving the $140 as a loan. The government agent in charge of the colony was J.-A. Chicoyne, pictured in the inset. Chicoyne had been a provincial immigration agent and treasurer of the Saint-Hyacinthe Colonization Society which had operated in Emberton Township from 1869 to 1874. Chicoyne's tight-handed control and conflicts of interest (in his own words, he was mayor of the municipal council, justice of peace, emergency doctor, pharmacist, merchant, sawmill operator and an important landowner) made him unpopular with the colonists after inclement weather ruined their crops, causing them much hardship during the winter of 1876-77. Having qualified for the loan by completing their clearings and building their houses, often in swamps or on stony ground, the majority abandoned their lots, making it impossible for the government to recoup the $60,000 it had advanced them. Apart from the 800 American repatriates, however, most of the colonists seem to have stayed within the area. In the left foreground of the photograph can be seen some of the settlers' tiny, unpainted houses which were moved to the nearby village of La Patrie, the headquarters for the project. The lumber piled in the centre of the village indicates the continued importance of the forest to the economic livelihood of the area at the turn of the century. The value of wood products produced in Compton County increased from $9,000 in 1860 to $819,653 in 1900. In the background is the 1087.5-metre Mount Megantic, one of the highest elevations in the Eastern Townships.
