the eve of Christmas in 1898, illuminated the entire city; and a power company. Father Choquette was also an amateur photographer. Donald Morrison case The first mayor (1885-1888) of Mégantic was Malcolm MacAuley, who was linked to the Donald Morrison case. Morrison's family had immigrated from the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland and had settled locally in a largely Canadian Gaelic-speaking farming community. Donald Morrison moved out west to work as a cowboy on a ranch, sending money home to pay off the family debts. When he returned home, he found his family had lost their farm after they had signed a bad debt deal with Mayor MacAuley, the wealthiest resident in the town at the time. A barn belonging to the new owner was burned to the ground, and Donald Morrison was immediately charged with arson. A bounty of $25 was placed on Morrison, and an American bailiff was paid $2.50 a day to track him down. The bailiff was killed in a gunfight with Morrison on the town's main street. Morrison was chased through the woods for another ten months before being wounded, captured, and imprisoned. He died of tuberculosis five years later. Lac-Mégantic derailment At approximately 01:15 EDT, on July 6, 2013, an unattended 73-car freight train carrying crude oil ran away and derailed near the downtown area of Lac-Mégantic, causing multiple tank cars to catch fire and explode. Forty-seven people were killed or presumed killed in the explosion and ensuing blaze, making the derailment Canada's deadliest rail disaster since the St-Hilaire train disaster in 1864. More than 30 buildings in the town's centre were destroyed, including the town's library and archives. The police launched a criminal investigation, charging the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway and three workers with criminal negligence. Of the 39 downtown buildings still standing as of December 2014, thirty-six are to be demolished due to petroleum contamination of the underlying grounds. Geography Lac-Mégantic is located at the eastern part of the Estrie administrative region, in the Regional County Municipality of Le Granit, approximately from the United States border. The Chaudière River has its source in Lake Megantic and empties into the St. Lawrence River, some further north, near Lévis (within the former city of Saint-Romuald). The Town of Lac-Mégantic is located from Mont Mégantic. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lac-Mégantic had a population