On this date in 1800, fur trader Alexander Henry concluded his November journal entries for the Park River post. He described methods of hunting raccoons, black bears, and grizzly bears hibernating along the Red River. The hunters checked large hollow trees for signs of animals inside. They would then cut a hole into the hollow space and set fire to smoke out the inhabitants. On November 30, seven raccoons were taken from a tree, which was six feet hollow inside, with two feet of rim and bark on the outside.
Before settlement and the agricultural landscape, enormous old trees were common in the gallery forests along the winding Red River. The numerous oxbows and surrounding wetlands prevented prairie fires from reaching the forested areas. Furred game flourished along the Red River, and great herds and flocks followed their ancient migration paths.
Returns for the Lower Red River Department of the North West Company, 1800-1801, listed dressed skins of: 1,475 beavers; 177 black bears; 43 brown bears; 6 grizzly bears; 204 wolves; 16 kit foxes; 184 red foxes; 16 raccoons; 197 fisher weasels; 178 otters; 96 martens; 62 mink; 5 wolverines; 21 moose and elk; 20 lynx; 27 muskrats; 92 shaved parchment hides; 56 buffalo robes; 10 badger skins; 60 packs of meat (90 pounds each); 77 pounds of pemmican; 4 kegs of grease; 7 bags of buffalo meat; and 10 bales of dried meat.
The Alexander Henry Rest Area on Interstate 29 is near Drayton, North Dakota, between Grand Forks and Pembina. The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1999 provided for a Transportation Enhancement program. These funds were used to rebuild rest areas with historic themes commemorating various parts of North Dakota’s past. Community input came from the Walsh County Historical Society. The Alexander Henry Rest Area was remodeled to resemble a trading post, with four lookouts and stone walls. Inside, bronze plaques provide a brief history of Alexander Henry, along with an engraving of the Park River, which runs beneath the rest area.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- New York: Francis P. Harper, 1897. New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest: The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry and of David Thompson, 1799-1814. Elliott Coues, Editor. Volume 1, The Red River of the North. Reprinted by Cambridge University Press, 2015. Page184
- Thematic rest areas provide brief glimpses into North Dakota’s history. Grand Forks Herald, by Garret Richie, September 8, 2014
