red river

The “Red,” or Red River of the North, forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota. It begins at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers near Wahpeton-Breckenridge, then meanders northward through Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks-East Grand Forks before reaching the Manitoba border near Pembina.

North Dakota has produced several acclaimed journalists, including Velva native Eric Sevareid, who was a CBS Evening News correspondent and commentator. Among his earliest writings is his account of a canoe adventure as a young man.

The Red River along the eastern edge of North Dakota was a vital trade route for Native Americans, Metis, fur traders, and then Americans and Canadians. However, by the 1910s, the need for river transportation had been firmly supplanted by trains and automobiles. On this date in 1913, the Fargo Forum announced that one of the last links to the heyday of the river trade was broken. Charles B. Thimens, a former steamboat captain, had died.

Look at an aerial photograph of most North Dakota rivers and you are likely to see it snake across the landscape in sinuous curves. These are low energy…

On this date in 1907, the Wahpeton Times reminded readers of a historical artifact unique to the region: the two-wheeled Red River cart. C.W. Andrews of…

Few people would guess that Grand Forks came into being because of a keg of beer, but supposedly it’s true.In 1858 – with necessity being the mother of…

On this date in 1860, the St. Cloud Democrat noted that mule teams regularly passed by on their way to Fort Abercrombie on the Red River in present day…

William H. White was born on this date in 1851 in Vermont, and he was barely twenty-one when he moved to Moorhead, Minnesota from Brainerd and began a…

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is now enforcing emergency aquatic nuisance species rules on the Red River.Game and Fish aquatic nuisance…