Métis drivers and ox carts at a rest stop

The Red River Trails were a network of ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the Selkirk Settlement) and Fort Garry in British North America, with the head of navigation of the Mississippi River in the United States. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, The Red River ox cart was a large two-wheeled Cart made entirely of natural materials and typically was drawn by Oxen. The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement) was a colonization project set up by Thomas Douglas 5th Earl of Selkirk in 1811 on 300000 km² of land granted Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine New France under British Rule See also Province of Quebec (1763-1791 In North America Seven Years' War officially ended with the signing of the The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The trails went from what is now Winnipeg in the Canadian province of Manitoba across the international border and by a variety of routes across what is now the eastern part of North Dakota and western and central Minnesota to Mendota and St. Paul on the Mississippi. Winnipeg (ˈwɪnɨpɛg is the capital and largest city in the Canadian province of Manitoba, and 7th largest municipality in Canada with a population The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States.

Travellers began to use the trails by the 1820s, with the heaviest use from the 1840s to the early 1870s, when they were superseded by the railways. Until then, these cartways provided the principal and most efficient means of transportation between the Red River Colony and the outside world. They gave the Selkirk colonists and their neighbors, the Métis people, an outlet for their furs and a source of supplies other than the Hudson's Bay Company, which was unable to enforce its monopoly in the face of the competition provided by use of the trails. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans,

Free traders independent of the Hudson's Bay Company and outside its jurisdiction developed extensive commerce with the United States, making Saint Paul the principal entrepôt and link to the outside world for the Selkirk Settlement. An entrepôt (from the French " Warehouse " is a Trading post where merchandise can be imported and Exported without The trade developed by and along the trails connecting Fort Garry with Saint Paul stimulated commerce, contributed to the settlement of Minnesota and North Dakota in the United States, and accelerated the settlement of Canada to the west of the rugged barrier known as the Canadian Shield. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Canadian Shield &mdash also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien (French &mdash is a large geological shield covered by For a time this cross-border trade even threatened Canada's control of its western territories. The threat diminished after completion of transcontinental trade routes both north and south of the border, and the transportation corridor through which the trails once ran declined in importance. That corridor has now seen a resurgence of traffic, carried by more modern means of transport than the crude oxcarts that once travelled the Red River Trails.

Origins

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Red River Trails between Fort Garry and Saint Paul Not all trails shown; there were many connecting trails and alternate routes. Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Morris ( or "Mo-Town" is a small town of about 1700 people in the Pembina Valley region of Manitoba, Canada, located about 50 km south of Walhalla is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. Pembina (ˈpɛmbɪnə) is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. Lac La Croix First Nation is a Saulteaux First Nation located in Rainy River District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Ontario- St Hilaire is a city in section 6 of River Falls Township in Pennington County, Minnesota, United States. Grand Portage National Monument, located within the Boreal forest on the north shore Huot is an unincorporated community in Louisville Township, Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States. White Earth is a Census-designated place (CDP in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. Fond du Lac is a neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota, United States Georgetown is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River near its confluence with the Red River of the North Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress March 3rd 1857 Otter Tail Lake is a 21 Square mile lake in the west-central part of the U Breckenridge is a city in Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. Old Crow Wing is a Ghost town in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow Alexandria is a city in and the County seat of Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. West Union is a city in Todd County, Minnesota, United States. Lake Traverse is the southernmost Body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. Sauk Rapids is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, United States. St Cloud (ˌseɪntˈklaʊd is a city in the US state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region Glenwood is a city in Pope County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2594 at the 2000 census Graceville is a city in Big Stone County, Minnesota, United States. Big Stone Lake is a long narrow Freshwater Lake and reservoir forming the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota Lac qui Parle State Park is a Minnesota state park near Watson. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. Upper Sioux Agency State Park is a Minnesota state park on the Minnesota River, south of Granite Falls. The Lower Sioux Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Redwood County Minnesota, just south Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost (1853&ndash1867 near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota (located near New Ulm) Traverse des Sioux, is a historic site in the US state of Minnesota. Prairie du Chien is a city in and the County seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. Hold cursor over waypoints to display settlements; click to go to article.

In 1812, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, started a colony of settlers in British North America where the Assiniboine River joined the Red River of the North at the site of modern Winnipeg. Thomas Douglas ( June 20, 1771 — April 8, 1820) was the 5th Earl of Selkirk, born at Saint Mary's Isle Kirkcudbrightshire British North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary The Assiniboine River is a long River that runs through the Prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Red River (rivière Rouge is a North American river Formed by the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States ^[1] Although fur posts were scattered throughout the Canadian northwest and settlements of Métis fur traders and bison hunters were located in the vicinity of Selkirk’s establishment,^[2] Selkirk's colony was the only agricultural settlement between Upper Canada and the Pacific Ocean. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, This is an article about an animal For other uses see Bison (disambiguation. The Province of Upper Canada (French Province du Haut-Canada) was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario Isolated by geology behind the rugged Canadian Shield and many hundreds of miles of wilderness, settlers and their Métis neighbors had access to outside markets and sources of supply only by two laborious water routes. The Canadian Shield &mdash also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien (French &mdash is a large geological shield covered by

The first, maintained by the Hudson's Bay Company (in which Lord Selkirk was a principal investor), was a sea route from Great Britain to York Factory on Hudson Bay, then up a chain of rivers and lakes to the colony, 780 miles (1250 km) from salt water to the Assiniboine. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands York Factory was a settlement located on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay in northeastern Manitoba, Canada at the mouth of the Hayes ^[3] The alternative was the historic route of the rival North West Company's voyageurs from Montreal through Lake Huron to Fort William on Lake Superior. For the grocery chain see The North West Company. The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the US state of Michigan, and on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. Above Superior this route followed rivers and lakes to Lac la Croix and and west along the international border through Lake of the Woods to Rat Portage, and then down the Winnipeg River to the Red. Lac La Croix First Nation is a Saulteaux First Nation located in Rainy River District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Ontario- Lake of the Woods (lac des Bois is a Lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U The Winnipeg River is a Canadian River which flows from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in the province ^[4] The distance from the Selkirk settlement to Lake Superior at Fort William was about 500 miles (800 km), but Lake Superior was only the start of a lengthy journey to Montreal where furs and supplies would be transshipped to and from Europe. Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. Transshipment or Transhipment is the Shipment of goods to an intermediate destination and then from there to yet another destination ^[5] Neither of these routes was suitable for heavy freight. Lighter cargoes were carried in York boats to Hudson Bay or in canoes on the border route. The York boat was an inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Canada. A canoe is a small narrow Boat, typically human-powered though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors Both routes required navigation of large and hazardous lakes, shallow and rapid-strewn rivers, and swampy creeks, connected by numerous portages where both cargo and watercraft had to be carried on men's backs. RAPID is an acronym for Rural Address Property IDentification a scheme instituted in New Zealand to assist emergency services in identifying and locating rural properties

But geology also provided an alternate route, albeit across foreign territory. The valleys of the Red and Minnesota Rivers lay in the beds of Glacial Lake Agassiz and its prehistoric outlet Glacial River Warren; the lands exposed when these bodies of water receded were flat plains between low uplands covered by prairie grasslands. The Red River (rivière Rouge is a North American river Formed by the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States The Minnesota River is a Tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km long in the U Lake Agassiz was an immense Glacial lake located in the center of North America. Glacial River Warren or River Warren was a prehistoric river that drained Lake Agassiz in central North America between 11700 and 9400 years ago At the Traverse Gap, only a mile (1. The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley Minnesota. 6  km) of land separated the Bois des Sioux River, a source stream of the Red (which flowed north to Hudson Bay) and the Little Minnesota River, a source stream of the Minnesota River (tributary to the Mississippi, which flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico). The Bois de Sioux River drains Lake Traverse, the southernmost Body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. The Little Minnesota River is a Headwaters Tributary of the Minnesota River in northeastern South Dakota and west-central Minnesota The Gulf of Mexico ( Spanish: Golfo de México) is the ninth largest Body of water in the world The valley floors and uplands of the watercourses along this gently graded route provided a natural thoroughfare to the south. The eyes of the colonists therefore turned to the new United States, both as a source of supplies and an (illegal) outlet for their furs. ^[6]

Development of the routes

The rich fur areas along the upper Mississippi, Minnesota, Des Moines, and Missouri Rivers were exploited by independent fur traders operating from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The Minnesota River is a Tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km long in the U The Des Moines River is a tributary river of the Mississippi River, approximately 525 miles (845 km long to its farther headwaters in the upper Midwestern United Prairie du Chien is a city in and the County seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. These traders established fur posts in the Minnesota River valley at Lake Traverse, Big Stone Lake, Lac qui Parle, and Traverse des Sioux. Lake Traverse is the southernmost Body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. Big Stone Lake is a long narrow Freshwater Lake and reservoir forming the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota Lac qui Parle is a Lake located in western Minnesota which was formed by the damming of the Minnesota River. Traverse des Sioux, is a historic site in the US state of Minnesota. The large fur companies also built posts, including the North West Company's stations at Pembina and St. Joseph in the valley of the Red River. Pembina is a Canadian French name for the High bush cranberry (viburnum trilobum which has lent its name to several places or features Canada Walhalla is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The paths between these posts became parts of the first of the Red River Trails.

In 1815, 1822, and 1823 cattle were herded to the colony from Missouri by a route up the Des Moines River Valley to the Minnesota River then down the Red River to the Selkirk settlement. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee The Des Moines River is a tributary river of the Mississippi River, approximately 525 miles (845 km long to its farther headwaters in the upper Midwestern United ^[7] In 1819, following a devastating plague of locusts which left the colonists with insufficient seed even to plant a crop, an expedition was sent by snowshoe to purchase seed at Prairie du Chien. Locust is the Swarming phase of short-horned Grasshoppers of the family Acrididae. ^[8] It returned by flatboat up the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and down the Red River Valley, arriving back at the settlement in the summer of 1820. A Flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square ends used to transport Freight and passengers on inland Waterways The flatboat could be any ^[9] In 1821, five dissatisfied settler families left the colony for Fort Snelling, the forerunners of later tides of migration up and down the valley between the two nations. Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota ^[10] Two years later in 1823, Major Stephen Harriman Long was the first official U. Stephen Harriman Long (December 30 1784 &ndash September 4 1864 was a U S. representative to reach Pembina; his expedition came by way of the Minnesota and Red Rivers. ^[11] These early expeditions on the watersheds of these two streams were among the earliest known through trips on the route of the first Red River Trail.

West Plains Trail

The West Plains Trail from the Red River Settlement went south, upstream along the Red River's west bank to Pembina, just across the international border. Pembina (ˈpɛmbɪnə) is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. Pembina had been a fur-trading post since the last decades of the eighteenth century. ^[12] From there, some traffic continued south along the river, but most cart trains went west along the Pembina River to St. Joseph near the border and then south, or else cut the corner to the southwest in order to intercept the southbound trail from St. Pembina River can refer to The Pembina River in Manitoba and North Dakota in North America. Walhalla is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. Joseph. This north-south trail paralleled the Red River about thirty miles (50 km) to the west. ^[13] By staying on the uplands west of the Red River, this route avoided the swampy bottomlands and the tributary stream crossings in the lakebed of Glacial Lake Agassiz which the river drained. ^[14]

Fur trader and cart train operator Norman Kittson

In what is now southeastern North Dakota, the trail veered to the south-southeast to close with the Red River at Georgetown, Minnesota, Fort Abercrombie, and Breckenridge, Minnesota, all of which came into existence in consequence of the passing cart traffic. The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal Fur. Norman Wolfred Kittson ( 5 March 1814 &ndash 10 May 1888) was variously a Fur trader Steamboat -line operator and Georgetown is a city in Clay County, Minnesota, United States, along the Buffalo River near its confluence with the Red River of the North Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress March 3rd 1857 Breckenridge is a city in Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. ^[15] From Breckenridge, the trail continued upstream along the east bank of the Red and Bois des Sioux Rivers to the continental divide at Lake Traverse. The Bois de Sioux River drains Lake Traverse, the southernmost Body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. Lake Traverse is the southernmost Body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. Some traffic went along the lakeshore through the Traverse Gap on the continental divide, then down either side of Big Stone Lake, source of the Minnesota River,^[16] while other carters took a short cut directly south from the Bois des Sioux across the open prairie through modern Graceville, Minnesota thereby avoiding the wet country in the Traverse Gap. The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse and Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley Minnesota. The Minnesota River is a Tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km long in the U Graceville is a city in Big Stone County, Minnesota, United States. ^[17]

The trail continued on intertwined routes down both sides of the valley of the Minnesota River past fur posts at Lac qui Parle and downstream locations, and the Upper Sioux and Lower Sioux Indian Agencies and Fort Ridgely, all established in the 1850s. The Minnesota River is a Tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km long in the U Lac qui Parle State Park is a Minnesota state park near Watson. Upper Sioux Agency State Park is a Minnesota state park on the Minnesota River, south of Granite Falls. The Lower Sioux Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located along the southern bank of the Minnesota River in Redwood County Minnesota, just south Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost (1853&ndash1867 near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota (located near New Ulm) From Fort Ridgely, the trail struck across the open prairie to the Minnesota River at Traverse des Sioux near modern-day St. Peter, Minnesota, where the furs and goods were usually transshipped to flatboats. Traverse des Sioux, is a historic site in the US state of Minnesota. St Peter is a city in Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States. ^[18] In later years, most cart trains crossed to the east bank and proceeded northeast along the wooded river bottoms and uplands to Fort Snelling or Mendota, where the Minnesota River joined the Mississippi. Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort St Anthony, is a former Military Fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota Mendota is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. ^[19]

The Minnesota trail originated with Native Americans, and before the oxcart traffic it connected the fur-trading posts of the Columbia Fur Company. ^[20] In fact, that company introduced the use of the Red River ox cart to haul its furs and goods. The Red River ox cart was a large two-wheeled Cart made entirely of natural materials and typically was drawn by Oxen. It also developed the trails, and by the early 1830s, an expedition from the Selkirk settlement driving a flock of sheep from Kentucky to the Assiniboine found the this trail to be well-marked. ^[21]

Sporadic at first, more regular trade between Fort Garry and the Mississippi started in 1835, when a caravan of traders from the Red River came to Mendota. The efforts of the Hudson’s Bay Company to enforce its monopoly only induced the fur traders to avoid the company's jurisdiction by moving across the border to the United States. These included Norman Kittson whose enormous fur-trading and shipping enterprise along the West Plains Trail started with one six-cart train in 1844. Norman Wolfred Kittson ( 5 March 1814 &ndash 10 May 1888) was variously a Fur trader Steamboat -line operator and ^[22] In later years, trains consisting of hundreds of ox carts were sent from Kittson’s post at Pembina, just inside U. Pembina (ˈpɛmbɪnə) is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. S. territory and safely outside the reach of the Hudson’s Bay Company. ^[23] While some of this fur traffic was shifted to other routes in 1854, the forts, missions, Indian agencies, and remaining through cart traffic kept the trails busy, and they were improved in the 1850s and supplemented by military roads. ^[24]

Woods Trail

The West Plains Trail, although relatively level, went by a lengthy route through the lands of the Dakota people, and the shorter East Plains Trail also skirted Dakota land. Sioux (pronounced SUE are a Native American and First Nations people The Dakota were the enemy of the Ojibwa, to whom the Metis carters were related by blood and marriage. The Ojibwa or Chippewa (also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway) is the largest group of Native Americans - First Nations ^[25] These tensions led to conflicts. One such bloody confrontation in the summer of 1844 (caused by an attack by Métis carters on Dakota hunters) occurred when that year's expedition of free traders were in St. Paul. It meant that they could not safely return by the normal route. ^[26] The traders therefore, struck northwest up the Mississippi to Crow Wing at the mouth of the Crow Wing River, west up that river and across the divide to the fur post at Otter Tail Lake, then northwest across the prairie to a crossing of the Red River near its confluence with the Forest River. Crow Wing State Park is a 3119 acre (1262 km² Minnesota state park at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers The park The Crow Wing River rises in a chain of 10 lakes in southern Hubbard County Minnesota and flows southeast about 90 miles before joining the Mississippi River at Otter Tail Lake is a 21 Square mile lake in the west-central part of the U The Forest River is a tributary of the Red River of the North, approximately 90 mi (145 km long in eastern North Dakota in the United States. ^[27] The next year, a southbound party followed its tracks, and by the year after (1846), the final route had been well-established inland from the Red River bottomlands. This trail was known as the Woods or Crow Wing Trail; it was also known locally as the Saint Paul Trail and Pembina Trail. ^[28]

As the first of these names indicates, the path was wooded over part of its way, as its southern reaches crossed the transition zone between the western prairies and eastern woodland. From Fort Garry, southbound cart trains followed the east bank of the Red River, crossing the Roseau River and the international border. The Roseau River is a tributary of the Red River of the North, in southern Manitoba in Canada and northwestern Minnesota in the United In Minnesota, the trail was joined by a route coming from Pembina to the northwest, and continued south on a level prairie in the former lakebed of prehistoric Lake Agassiz. Lake Agassiz was an immense Glacial lake located in the center of North America. It ascended to and followed a firm gravelly ridge which was once among the higher beaches or strandlines of that ancient lake, forded the Red Lake River at the Old Crossing near modern Huot, and angled south by southeast to the fur post at White Earth. The Red Lake River is a river located in northwestern Minnesota. Huot is an unincorporated community in Louisville Township, Red Lake County, Minnesota, United States. White Earth is a Census-designated place (CDP in Becker County, Minnesota, United States. At Otter Tail Lake, the route left the plains and turned east into a forest in the Leaf Mountains on the continental divide. Otter Tail Lake is a 21 Square mile lake in the west-central part of the U Leaf Hills Moraines, sometimes called the Leaf Mountains, are a range of hills in west-central Minnesota. Taking a difficult but scenic path east through the woods, the trail crossed the Mississippi River at Old Crow Wing. Old Crow Wing is a Ghost town in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow It then went south down the east bank of that river on a smooth and open glacial outwash sandplain to Sauk Rapids and East Saint Cloud. A sandur (plural sandar is a glacial outwash Plain formed of Sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a Glacier. Sauk Rapids is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, United States. ^[29]

An ox cart seen at the end of the trail in Saint Paul

The final lap of the trail to Saint Paul, which had replaced Mendota as the principal entrepôt for the cart trade, continued along the sandplain on the east bank of the Mississippi. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U An entrepôt (from the French " Warehouse " is a Trading post where merchandise can be imported and Exported without This route ran within a few miles of the river to Saint Anthony Falls and the community of that name which was growing on the east bank of the Mississippi. Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis Minnesota, was the only natural major Waterfall on the The trail then left the river and crossed open country to St. Paul. The carters camped on the uplands west of the steamboat landing during the interval between their arrival with the furs and their return to the north with supplies and trade goods. ^[30]

Inferior in terrain to other routes, the Woods Trail was superior in safety, as it was well within the lands of the Ojibwa. It was less well used during times of relative calm. ^[31] In the late 1850s, its utility was increased by improvements made by the U. S. Army,^[32] which straightened and improved the winding oxpath through the woods along the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers, and also replaced the old trail between Fort Ripley (near Crow Wing) and Sauk Rapids with a military road. Camp Ripley is a Military and Civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard located near the city of Little ^[33]

East Plains Trail

The Middle or East Plains Trail also came into common use in the 1840s. Shorter than the competing West Plain Trail, it became the route of the large cart trains originating from Pembina when well-known trader Henry Sibley retired from the fur trade in 1854. Henry Hastings Sibley, first Governor of the US state of Minnesota, was born in Detroit Michigan on February 20, 1811 His successor and former partner Norman Kittson moved their company's cart trains from the West Plains Trail in the Minnesota River valley to the East Plains route. Norman Wolfred Kittson ( 5 March 1814 &ndash 10 May 1888) was variously a Fur trader Steamboat -line operator and ^[34]

Red River cart at Saint Cloud

The East Plains Trail followed the older routes of the West Plains Trail from Pembina to Breckenridge, Minnesota, then struck east by a variety of routes out of the Red River Valley across the upper valleys of the Pomme de Terre and Chippewa Rivers (tributaries of the Minnesota River), to St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids on the Upper Mississippi. St Cloud (ˌseɪntˈklaʊd is a city in the US state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region Breckenridge is a city in Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The Pomme de Terre River is a Tributary of the Minnesota River, 106 miles (170 km long in western The Chippewa River is a Tributary of the Minnesota River, about 120 mi (195 km long in western and southwestern Minnesota in the United States St Cloud (ˌseɪntˈklaʊd is a city in the US state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region Sauk Rapids is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, United States. ^[35] Soon however a branch was added to connect the East Plains Trail with the Woods Trail. This link skirted the west slope of the Leaf Mountains and joined the East Plains route at Elbow Lake and later, after a stagecoach road had been constructed further north, near the Otter Tail River. Elbow Lake is the name of some places in the US state of Minnesota: Elbow Lake Becker County Minnesota Elbow Lake Grant The Otter Tail River is a River in the west-central portion of the U At times this eastern connection may have been the better-traveled of the two variants. ^[36]

At Saint Cloud the furs of some of the cart brigades were transshipped to river craft on the Mississippi, which operated to Saint Anthony Falls at Minneapolis. Other cart trains crossed the Mississippi and travelled on to Saint Paul on a route shared with the Woods Trail. ^[37]

Over most of its route the East Plains Trail went through a post-glacial landscape of lakes, moraines, and drumlins, with beautiful scenery and difficult swamps. As the area became settled during Minnesota’s territorial and early statehood days, the routes were improved, stagecoach service was instituted, towns were established, and settlement began. ^[38]

Commerce

The trails were first used to obtain staples and supplies for the Selkirk colony. They soon became trade routes for local fur traders. In the 1830s they began to be heavily used by American fur traders operating just south of the international border, who acquired furs from Metis fur traders in British North America who were evading the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly on trade within its chartered domain. ^[39]

Once the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly was broken the trails the Canadians freely used the trails as a legal outlet for the agricultural surplus they produced and a source of supply for their needs. The settlement at Fort Garry was isolated and at the end of a seven-hundred mile water and land route from York Factory, which was served by only one or two ships each year. Orders from Britain had to be placed a year in advance. But from St. Paul the settlers could obtain spices, seed, staples, lamps and coal oil to burn in them, fine cloth, tools and implements, and other manufactured goods in the space of a summer. ^[40]

Life on the trail

Repair of the wooden axle of a Red River ox cart in Pembina, North Dakota before setting out for St. Anthony Falls

Red River ox cart (1851), by Frank Blackwell Mayer

The typical carter was a Métis descended from French voyageurs and Ojibway. An axle is a central shaft for a rotating Wheel or Gear. In some cases the axle may be fixed in position with a bearing or Bushing The Red River ox cart was a large two-wheeled Cart made entirely of natural materials and typically was drawn by Oxen. Pembina (ˈpɛmbɪnə) is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis Minnesota, was the only natural major Waterfall on the The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, The Ojibwa or Chippewa (also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway) is the largest group of Native Americans - First Nations His conveyance was the Red River ox cart, a simple conveyance derived either from the two-wheeled charettes used in French Canada, or from Scottish carts,^[41] but adapted from 1801 on to use only local materials. The Red River ox cart was a large two-wheeled Cart made entirely of natural materials and typically was drawn by Oxen. "CARTS" redirects here For the transportation system see Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or Chautauqua CARTS. ^[42] This cart contained no iron at all, being entirely constructed of wood and animal hide. Two twelve-foot long parallel oak shafts or "trams" bracketed the draft animal in front and formed the frame of the cart to the rear. Cross-pieces held the floorboards, and front, side and rear boards or rails enclosed the box. These wooden pieces were joined by mortices and tenons. Simple and strong the mortise and tenon joint has been used for millennia by Woodworkers around the world to join pieces of Wood, usually when the pieces Also of seasoned oak was the axle, lashed to the cart by strips of bison hide or "shaganappi" attached when wet which shrunk and tightened as they dried. The American bison ( Bison bison) is a Bovine Mammal, also commonly known as the American buffalo. The axles connected two spoked wheels, five or six feet in diameter, which were "dished" or in the form of a shallow cone, the apex of which was at the hub. ^[43] Motive power for the carts was originally supplied by small horses obtained from the First Nations. First Nations is a term of Ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people After cattle were brought to the colony in the 1820s oxen were used, preferred because of their strength, endurance, and cloven hooves which spread their weight in swampy areas. Oxen (singular ox) are Cattle trained as draft animals. Often they are adult castrated males ^[44]

The cart, constructed of native materials, could easily be repaired. A supply of shaganapi and wood was carried; a cart could break a half-dozen axles in a one-way trip. ^[45] The axles were ungreased, as grease would capture dust which would act as sandpaper and immobilize the cart. ^[46] The resultant squeal sounded like an untuned violin, giving it the sobriquet of "the North West fiddle"; one visitor wrote that "a den of wild beasts cannot be compared with its hideousness. "^[47] The noise was audible for miles. The carts were completely unsprung, and only their flexible construction damped the shocks transmitted from the humps and hollows of the trail.

The carts were lashed together in strings as many as ten carts long. Trains consisted of a few carts to many hundreds: carts numbering in the low hundreds annually used the trails in the 1840s,^[48] many hundreds in the 1850s, and thousands in the late 1860s. ^[49]

On reaching Saint Paul, the carters would camp on the bluff above the town developing on the riverfront. Not all was harmonious. To the locals, the swarthy-complected carters up on the hill had a "devil-may-care" aspect, with their "curious commingling of civilized garments and barbaric adornments". One trader from the north called his host city "a wretched little village" where "drinking whisky seems to occupy at least half the time of the worth[y] citizens", while the balance was "employed in cheating each other or imposing upon strangers". The economic benefits of trade, and the separation of the carters' camp from the village below, may have helped keep relations civil. ^[50] After three weeks or so of trading, the "wild" carters from the north, now laden with trade goods, took their leave of the "den of blackgards" that was Saint Paul, and returned to what they felt was a more civilized world, but which some of their erstwhile hosts thought were uncivilized frozen wilds. ^[51]

End of the trails

Some ox cart trains at times did not go all the way through, but were supplemented by river craft. First flatboats and then shallow-draft steamboats ascended the Minnesota River to Traverse des Sioux and upstream points, where they were met by cart brigades traveling the West Plains Trail. A Flatboat is a rectangular boat with a flat bottom and square ends used to transport Freight and passengers on inland Waterways The flatboat could be any A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving a Propeller In 1851 weekly steamboat service on the Mississippi began between Saint Anthony Falls and Sauk Rapids on the Middle and Woods trails. Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located northeast of downtown Minneapolis Minnesota, was the only natural major Waterfall on the Sauk Rapids is a city in Benton County, Minnesota, United States. In 1859 steamboat machinery was carried overland to the Red River and where a boat was built, but service was intermittent and the Dakota War of 1862 and the U.S. Civil War inhibited further improvements until after the wars. The Dakota War of 1862 (also known as the Sioux Uprising, Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South ^[52]

Red River carts meet the instrument of their demise: Carts and traders at a railroad station

After the Civil War the age of steam came to the region. Steamboat service was revived on the Red River, and railways were built west from Saint Paul and Duluth on Lake Superior. Duluth is a Port City in the US state of Minnesota and the County seat of St Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. A branch of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad reached St. The Great Northern Railway, running from St Paul Minnesota to Seattle Washington &mdash more than 1700 miles (2736 km &mdash was the creation of Cloud in 1866, and the mainline of that concern reached Willmar in 1869 and Benson the following year. Willmar is a city in and the County seat of Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, United States. Benson is a city in Swift County, Minnesota, United States, along the Chippewa River. Each end-of-track town in turn became the terminus for many of the cart trains. In 1871 the railway reached the Red River at Breckenridge, where revived steamboat service carried the traffic the rest of way to Fort Garry. ^[53] The ox cart trains were replaced by trains drawn by steam, and the trails reverted to nature. ^[54]

A few traces of the vanished trails still exist. Some local roads folllow their routes; depressions in the landscape show where thousands of carts once passed, and even after over a century of winters and springs freezing and thawing the land there are still places where soils remain compacted and resistant to the plow. ^[55] Some of these subtle artifacts are marked or are visible to those with a discerning eye, but in most places the trails have been obliterated completely. ^[56]

Significance

The importance of the trails to the development of Minnesota was recognized in this postage stamp commemorating the the centennial of the establishment of Minnesota Territory

The Red River Trails sustained the Selkirk settlement in its early years and gave its colonists and their Métis neighbors a route for immigration and emigration as well as a highway for trade which was not dependent on the Hudson's Bay Company. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Minnesota Territory was an Organized territory of the United States from March 3 1849 to May 11 1858, when Minnesota The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, As usage grew, old fur trading posts became settlements and new communities were established along the routes. The routes pioneered by the fur brigades led to the development of Minnesota and North Dakota, and facilitated settlement of the Canadian northwest.

The trails had profound political effects as well. The trails and the colony which they served were established in a time of Anglo-American tension and concern over the cross-border influence of each nation over the territory and citizens of the other. The trails and their uses both were created by, and contributed, to these influences. Born of the impetus of commerce and located by the dictates of geography, the trails had political effects unthought of by many of their users. Continued British presence in the northwestern fur posts on soil which the United States claimed, prior British claims to the Red River Valley and attempts to obtain access to the Mississippi, and the establishment of Lord Selkirk's colony all contributed to U. S. interest in the area and military expeditions to assert that interest. ^[57]

Later on, the economic dependence of the Selkirk settlements and the Canadian Northwest on the Red River trade routes to U. S. markets came to pose a threat to British and Canadian control. ^[58] The geographical dictates which led to the trails' establishment continued even beyond the end of the trails. At a time when a sense of Canadian nationality was tenuous in the Northwest, that region relied on the Red River Trails and its successor steamboat and rail lines as an outlet for its products and a source of supplies. ^[59] And there was an active Manifest Destiny faction in Minnesota which sought to use those commercial ties as a means to acquire northwestern Canada for the United States. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. ^[60] These pressures led Canada to obtain cession by the Hudson's Bay Company of its territory and rights, contributed to Canadian Confederation and the establishment of Manitoba, and led to the decision to require on an all-Canada route for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed beginning 1 July 1867 from the The Canadian Pacific Railway ( ^[61] Not until completion of that line in 1885 did Manitoba and the Northwest finally have reliable and efficient access to eastern Canada by a route located entirely on Canadian soil. ^[62]

Now, with the border firmly established and peaceful, a greater sense of Canadian nationality and diminution of fears of U. S. Manifest Destiny, and expanded north-south commerce in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the trade corridor once occupied by these long-gone trails continues to be employed for its historic uses. ^[63]

See also

• Carlton Trail
• Red River ox cart

References

Notes

Sources

Books and pamphlets

• Berton, Pierre (1972)). The Impossible Railway. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-3944-6569-5.  

• Bryce, George (1909), The Romantic Settlement of Lord Selkirk's Colonists, Toronto: The Musson Book Company, <http://ia301128.us.archive.org/3/items/romantic00brycuoftBi/romantic00brycuoftBi.pdf> 

• Christianson, Theodore (1935), Minnesota: The Land of Sky-Tinted Waters, vol. George Bryce (1844 &ndash 1931 was a Presbyterian minister and a prolific author writing on many topics including history of the Red River colony in what is now Theodore Christianson ( September 12, 1883 December 9, 1948) was an American politician. I: From Wilderness to Commonwealth, Chicago and New York: The American Library Society .

• Gilman, Rhoda R. ; Carolyn Gilman & Deborah M. Stultz (1979). The Red River Trails: Oxcart Routes Between St. Paul and the Selkirk Settlement, 1820-1870. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-8735-1133-6.  

• Kelsey, Vera (1951). Red River Runs North!. New York: Harper & Brothers.  

• Kernaghan, W. (c. 1857). Hudson's Bay and Red River Settlement with a short account of the country, and the routes in 1857. London: Algar and Street.  

• Lass, William E. (1978), Minnesota, A History (2d ed. ), New York & London: W. W. Norton & Co. , ISBN 0-3930-4628-1 

• Lass, William E. (1980). Minnesota’s Boundary with Canada. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-8735-1153-0.  

• Morse, Eric W. (1969). Fur Trade Canoe Routes of Canada / Then and Now. Minocqua, WI: NorthWord Press. ISBN 1-5597-1045-4.  

• Nute, Grace Lee (1950). Rainy River Country. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press.  

Websites

• Bell, Charles N. (29 April 1887). "Some Red River Settlement History". MHS Transactions Series 1 (29). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Brehaut, Harry Baker (1971). "The Red River Cart and Trails: The Fur Trade". MHS Transactions Series 3 (28). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Bowsfield, Hartwell (1967-68). "Canadian-American Relations: The Background". MHS Transactions Series 3 (24). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Bowsfield, Hartwell (1966-67). "The United States and Red River Settlement". MHS Transactions Series 3 (23). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Foseca, William G. (25 January 1900). "On the St. Paul Trail in the Sixties". MHS Transactions Series 1 (56). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• HBC Heritage (2007). The North West Company. Our History: Acquisitions, Fur Trade. Hudson's Bay Company. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German

• Henderson, Anne Matheson (Spring 1968). "The Lord Selkirk Settlement at Red River, Part 3". Manitoba Pageant 13 (3). Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Hess, Jeffrey A. ; Minnesota Historical Society (July 1989). Minnesota Red River Trails (PDF). N. H. R. P. Multiple Property Documentation Form and Continuation Sheets. National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German

• Killion, Rick (12 2004). Historic Trade Corridors: Vital Links Follow Nature's Bounty. Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, University of North Dakota. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German

• McFadden, Molly (1950-51). "Steamboating on the Red". MHS Transactions Series 3. Manitoba Historical Society.  

• Morrison, William R. (2007). Dawson Road. Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German

• Peihl, Mark (2001). A Few Thoughts About Red River Carts. Clay County Historical Society. Retrieved on 2008-02-14. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 842 - Charles the Bald and Louis the German swear the Oaths of Strasbourg in the French and German

• Walsh, K. (May 2006). Crow Wing Trail. Winnipeg & Region Green Map. Department of City Planning, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba. The University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, is the largest university located in the province of Manitoba. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow.