Riviere-du-Loup was a small town in the Republic of Quebec. It was overrun by US forces in the first year of the Great War, when Quebec was still part of Canada. It was headquarters of a small occupational garrison commanded by French-speaking Major Jedediah Quigley. In 1916, when the Republic of Quebec was founded, Riviere-du-Loup became the center of a Catholic diocese, and pro-US priest Pascal Talon was elevated to bishop. (Talon would eventually be removed from the diocese when he became involved in a scandal by fathering twins; the second bishop of Riviere-du-Loup was Father Guillaume.)