Railroad tracks finally began creeping west from Duluth, Minnesota, in 1870. On a cold New Year’s Eve in 1871, the railroad finally reached the Red River at Moorhead. Construction on a railroad bridge across the river continued through the winter. The residents of Fargo eagerly watched a locomotive sitting on the tracks, waiting for the completion of the bridge. On June 6, 1872, a group of women boarded a ferry and crossed the river. They decorated the engine with flowers and were then invited to climb aboard the train. The locomotive got up steam, the whistle blew, and the train moved majestically across the bridge and into Dakota Territory.
Work on extending the tracks steadily continued. On this date in 1872, the first train pulled into Jamestown. It is difficult today to comprehend just what the railroad meant to the settlement of the Great Plains. It was the equivalent of the completion of the interstate highway. Duluth is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Great Lakes. Railroads could bring the agricultural products of the Great Plains quickly and economically to Duluth, and from there, those products could be shipped around the world. This opened vast markets to Dakota farmers and ranchers.
Prior to the arrival of the railroad, Dakota Territory was primarily occupied by Native American tribes and European fur traders. Fur-trading outposts were few and far between. The arrival of the railroad opened the West to settlement. While farmers in the eastern portion of the territory thrived as the demand for wheat grew, ranchers in the western portion were experiencing a “cattle bonanza.” Towns began to spring up along the tracks. Settlers were attracted by the relative ease of train travel, as opposed to the rigors of traveling by wagon train.
The railroad also had a significant impact on Native American tribes. They lost their land. Their traditional ways of life were disrupted, while conflicts with settlers increased. Railroad construction also contributed to the slaughter of bison, which were a primary source of food. In 1883, General William Tecumseh Sherman declared that, except for occasional “spasmodic and temporal occasions,” the Indians would no longer be a problem. He asserted that the railroad “has settled forever the Indian question.”
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- ND Studies. “Railroads.” https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr4/early-settlement-north-dakota/part-1-early-settlement-north-dakota/section-9-railroadsAccessed 9/15/2026.
- ND Studies. “The Northern Pacific Railroad in North Dakota.” https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-1-changing-landscapes/topic-6-railroads/section-2-northern-pacific-railway-north-dakotaAccessed 9/15/2026.
- Writin’ for the Brand. “The Railroad and Settlement in Early North Dakota.” https://writinforthebrand.com/the-railroad-and-settlement-in-early-north-dakota/Accessed 9/15/2026.
- The Gilder Lehrman Institute of History. “American Indians and the Transcontinental Railroad.” https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/american-indians-and-transcontinental-railroadAccessed 9/15/2026.
