A report dated 1829 and signed by the surveyor John Adams mentions the L'Épaule River and the Montagne de l'Épaule, while William Ware describes the surroundings of Lac Épaule in 1835. This area was frequented in the 17th century by Jesuits who went, by a path traced by the Innu, to lac Saint-Jean. The plan of the Wendat (Huron) chief Nicholas Vincent, drawn up around 1829, identifies the river under its Wendat name Hüaonjacaronté.