State County ND Archives History - Books .....Forty Years Of Development 1909
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Book Title: History Of The Red River Valley

CHAPTER IV.
FORTY YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY.
By George B. Winship.

   The date of the permanent settlement of the Red River Valley may properly be
fixed in the spring of 1871, when with the establishment, of a line of stage
coaches by Blakely & Carpenter, of St. Paul, between Fort Abercrombie and
Winnipeg, or Fort Garry, as the northern frontier post was then known, together
with the initial trip of the steamer Selkirk, built at McCauleyville the
previous winter, the first actual settlers took up their abode here with the
intention of making this fertile valley their permanent home. It is true there
were a few settlers at different points prior to 1871—notably a small settlement
at Breckenridge, which place was surveyed and platted by real estate speculators
in 1856, who saw visions of railroad enterprises permeating the entire
Northwest. These promotors hailed from Kentucky, and they had extensive
interests in different sections of northern Minnesota. The railroads failed to
materialize, however, and the development under their auspices was also
visionary. R. M. Probstfield and J. M. Hutchinson settled at points on the Red
river north of the present city of Moorhead as early as 1857, and the Georgetown
settlement still farther down the river, which, by the way, was but a trading
post built by the Hudson Bay Fur Company, is another point where white men
located antedating postoffices. At Pembina and along the Pembina river to St.
Joe were also settlements composed largely of half breeds, whose avocation was
principally buffalo hunting and serving the Hudson Bay, Northwest and other fur
trading companies in various capacities. This northern settlement, with Pembina
as its base, is older than any other in the Northwest— along the border line—as
it began almost simultaneously with the Selkirk colony in Manitoba as early as
1800. Practically from this date until 1871 there was little progress made in
the settlement of this vast empire.

   The commercial relations of this new Northwest with other sections of the
country began about 1835, when trips were made to St. Louis by dog train and ox
cart for merchandise in exchange for furs. Then for some time Prairie du Chien,
Wis., was the nearest supply point and in the early 50's St. Paul. Minn., became
the base of supplies. The trade of the Red River Valley was held by St. Paul for
many years, until the stage coach and steamboat and railroad moved northward and
supplanted the dog train and ox cart as mediums of transportation.

   Brief mention may be made at this point of a number of interesting events
antedating the actual beginning of the permanent settlement here, but which
nevertheless have some connection with the subsequent history. In 1842 Joseph
Rolette came from Mendota, Minn., to Pembina, to look after the American Fur
Company's extensive interests which were for some time centered there. In 1843
Norman "W. Kittson came from St. Paul to Pembina and established a post for fur
trading. Several years later Canadian traders set up a post two miles from
Pembina and attempted to secure some of the trade coming there, but Joe Rolette
with a force of employes tumbled their goods out, fired their building and drove
them back across the boundary line. For years there was much friction between
the traders of the two countries.

   In 1849 Robert Dale Owen visited the Red River Valley and made several canoe
voyages up and down the river. He was accompanied by Capt. John Pope, of the
army engineering corps. Their report resulted in the war department dispatching
Major Woods here a year later to select a site for a military post on or near
the international border. A site was selected at Pembina, but the actual
construction of the post was not undertaken until ten years later.

   The first postoffice in North Dakota was established at Pembina in 1851, with
Norman W. Kittson as postmaster. Charles Cavalier was during the same year
appointed deputy collector of customs at Pembina and was assistant postmaster
and had charge of the office. Later Cavalier was appointed postmaster, a
position he held for nearly half a century, and was succeeded by his son, E. ~W.
Cavalier, who is still in charge of the office.

   In 1852 Kittson removed to St. Joe and established a trading post there,
which he conducted for many years and amassed large wealth. Kittson was elected
to the territorial council in 1862. Joe Rolette was elected to the lower house
in 1863 and Antoine Gingras was re-elected.

  . The fur trade of the Northwest developed to considerable proportions between
1855 and 1870 and several hundred carts were employed in the traffic between
Pembina, St. Joe and St. Paul. In 1859 Capt. Russell Blakely and others bought
the steamer Freighter at St. Paul and took it up the Minnesota river with the
purpose of transferring it over to the headwaters - of the Red river during the
spring floods. The effort was almost successful, but the waters receding before
the task was completed the boat was stranded a short distance from the river and
was finally abandoned there. Later in the year, however, the steamer Anson
Northurp was built opposite the mouth of the Sheyenne river, and made the first
steamer trip to Fort Garry in Canada. Later the boat was named the Pioneer.

   Fort Abercrombie was established in 1859. It was abandoned a year later, but
was rebuilt and again occupied in 1860. A Hudson Bay trading post was
established at Georgetown in 1859 with James McKay in charge. The steamer
International was built at Georgetown in 1861. The Sioux outbreak in 1862,
besides frightening away settlers from the valley, interfered with the river
traffic for a- few years, but during the latter sixties the trade between
Georgetown and Fort Garry by means of steamboats and lighters was resumed and in
addition to the carrying of furs from the north large quantities of merchandise
for traders and settlers in Canada were transported, being freighted overland
from St. Paul to Georgetown. At this time there were a number of people living
along the river at various points, but they were there incidentally to the river
traffic and the fur trade-and not as permanent residents.

   Following the fearful Sioux outbreak in August, 1862, the siege of Fort
Abercrombie and the atrocities committed by the Indians, most of those who had
been temporary residents of the valley took their departure, evidently not
caring to risk further depredations by the Sioux. Several demonstrations were
made by the military authorities, besides punishing the leaders of the outbreak.
Major Hatch with a detachment from Fort Snelling, known as Hatch's battalion,
traversed the valley in the fall of 1863, remaining at Fort Pembina during the
winter, and returned to Fort Snelling in the spring of 1864. Later in the same
year Major Cunningham conducted a military expedition to Devils Lake, and thence
to the Red River valley, and then back to the fort. It was some years, however,
before the effects of the Indian scare gave place to returning confidence.

   In 1867 Pembina county was organized, comprising most of the eastern part of
North Dakota. Charles Cavalier, Joseph Rolette and Charles Grant were the first
commissioners. They appointed John Harrison as register of deeds, William
Moorhead as sheriff, James McFetridge judge of probate, and John Braease
superintendent of schools.

 . The mail service was extended from Fort Abercrombie to Pembina, carts being
used in the summer and dog trains in the winter. In 1868 Nick Hoffman and August
Loon established a mail station near the present residence of Judge Corliss in
Grand Forks, and in 1870 a postoffice was established at "Le Grand Fourche,"
with Sanford C. Cady as postmaster, and the post-office was named Grand Forks.
Mr. Cady is still a resident of Grand Forks county. The office was established
for the convenience of those engaged in traffic along the Red and Red
Lake-rivers, although there were but few settlers living at Grand Forks at that
time.

   The movements towards the settlement of northwestern Canada during the early
seventies was an influential factor in the development of the Red River valley.
The province of Manitoba was without rail connections with the East, and the
most available route for emigrants who began pouring into that country in 1870,
following the acquisition of title to the Hudson Bay Company land by the
government, was by rail to St. Cloud, Minn., thence by stage to McCauleyville,
Minn., and then down the Red River valley to Fort Garry, or Winnipeg, which came
into existence near the site of the old fort in 1863. The Hudson Bay Company had
discouraged immigration to its domain, and the pioneer steamers which had been
in commission on the Red river between 1860 and 1870 found comparatively little
business except the transportation of supplies for employees of the fur company
and merchandise for its trading-posts, which were numerous over northwestern
Canada. With the opening up of the country to settlement, however, the
conditions soon changed and a very ?extensive traffic developed. The emigrants
pouring into the Canadian domain required lumber and other building material,
and household and other supplies. These were shipped to St. Paul by rail, and
from the terminus of the railroad there were freighted to the Red River valley
by ox carts, and from McCauleyville to Winnipeg by steamboat and flatboats.
During 1870 no less than forty flatboats, or scows, were constructed at
McCauleyville, with a carrying capacity of from ten to forty tons each. These
were floated down the river to Winnipeg, where they were taken apart after being
unloaded, and the lumber in them sold. The river presented a busy scene with its
numerous fleets of scows as well as several steamers plying up and down.

   A large proportion of the freight en route from St. Paul and other eastern
points to Winnipeg, or Fort Garry, as the place was generally known, passed
through the hands of James J. Hill, at that time engaged in the warehouse and
forwarding business in St. Paul. Impressed by the rapidly growing traffic, with
doubtless some conception of its possible magnitude in the future, Mr. Hill in
the spring of 1870 made a trip to Winnipeg by dog train conveyance, and was so
convinced of the future of the traffic that on his return he forthwith undertook
the construction of a steamboat for the traffic. He commissioned Captain
Alexander Griggs, a Mississippi river boatman, to build the steamer Selkirk.
Captain Griggs left his home in Henderson, Minn., in July, 1870, with a crew of
boat carpenters and timber cutters, and, proceeding to the Otter Tail river, one
of the headwaters of the Red, they began the work of felling the trees for the
boat, and also for a number of flatboats. The timber was rafted down to
McCauleyville, where the work of construction of the steamboat was commenced
early in the winter. During the fall Captain Griggs was engaged in freighting
merchandise down the Red river in flatboats. It was while he was engaged in this
work that an episode occurred which had its bearing on the future history of
Grand Forks. The writer of this sketch happened to be temporarily engaged at the
same time in the river traffic, and late in October loaded two flatboats, one of
ten tons and the other of forty tons capacity, with merchandise at
McCauleyville, for A. W. Stiles, post trader at Pembina, by whom he was
employed. Captain Griggs was at the same time loading a fleet of flatboats
destined for Fort Garry. A good-natured but nevertheless lively rivalry existed
between the different crews as to the facility with which their boats could be
handled. At this time, when the writer's crew had their two flatboats finally
loaded and set out for Pembina, Captain Griggs' crew had about half a day's work
before the loading of its fleet could be completed; but the crew boasted, with
more or less vehemence, that they would overhaul the rival fleet before reaching
Pembina. Our fleet met with no difficulty in its passage down the river until
Goose Rapids were reached, where, on account of low water and a rocky channel,
the entire cargo had to be reloaded on a "lighter," which was carefully towed
over the rapids. Two days elapsed before this work was accomplished. On the
evening of the second day the shouts of men were heard up the river, and we knew
that Griggs' fleet had reached the head of the rapids. Confident of maintaining
our lead, and exhausted by the hard work of the past two days, we determined to
tie up for the night and enjoy needed rest and sleep. Before morning a violent
sleet and snow storm raged. The smaller flatboat, which had been loaded down
heavily, filled with snow and water, with the result that a portion of the
cargo, consisting, specifically, of kegs of beer, washed overboard, and when
daylight dawned the kegs were floating down the river on their own account. The
boats started out and succeeded in picking up all but one of the kegs, which
escaped observation. It appears that the stray contraband package was espied by
some member of the Griggs expedition following, was taken on board, and a
jollification ensued, with the result that more or less of the crew were soon
out of commission, and Captain Griggs found it necessary to tie up his fleet
when the forks of the Red and Red Lake rivers were reached, and wait for the
effects of the accident to be overcome. In the meantime the weather turned cold,
and while the small fleet was able to reach Pembina, Captain Griggs' boats were
unable to proceed any farther, on account of the river freezing over. The boats
were finally unloaded, the freight piled on the shore, and lumber from the boats
used in building a shed over them. This occupied several days, and Captain
Griggs appears to have come to the conclusion that the site offered attractions
for a future town. He took possession of a quarter section, which afterward
became the town site, by the "squatter" process, and began improvements to the
extent of partially erecting a log house. His chief clerk, Howard R. Vaughan,
also took possession of a "claim" adjoining Captain Griggs' land on the north
and including the Riverside Park section of the present city. Having done this,
Captain Griggs returned to his home in Henderson, Minn., leaving Vaughan to
begin the work of construction of the steamboat. While at home Captain Griggs
interested a number of other residents of Henderson in the establishment of a
town on the site of the present city of Grand Forks.

   It will be noted that the entire history of the valley has had to do with the
incidental occupation of various points along the river as a part of the fur
traffic and of the transportation of supplies for the settlers in Canada and the
occupants of the various military and trading posts of the Northwest. It is
probable that actual settlement in the Red River valley would have followed the
exploitations of the Kentucky company in 1856 were it not for the great
financial panic of 1857 and the political agitation which led to the breaking
out of the war in 1861. Undoubtedly this company intended to colonize certain
localities in the Northwest on a large scale, but before it had fully
inaugurated its scheme the great disturbance referred to ensued, the result
being postponement of settlement for fifteen years. In 1871 great impetus was
given to immigration by railroad enterprises then under way. The Northern
Pacific railroad was under construction from Duluth westward, and was completed
to the Red river at Moorhead late in the fall of 1871. The St. Paul & Pacific
road was also extended to Breckenridge and a branch northward to St. Vincent was
under construction. But the most important factor of all was the acquirement by
the Dominion of Canada of the governmental rights of the Hudson Bay Company (in
1871) to the territory lying on the northern border, known .as Prince Rupert's
land, which had a wide influence on the early ?settlement of the Red River
valley. The influx of immigrants had hardly commenced, however, when the Jay
Cooke failure in 1873 and the great grasshopper scourge of 1874 to 1876
materially checked the movement, which did not revive in any great degree for
several years.

   As has already been noted, such settlement as the Red River valley had
attained previous to 1870 or 1871, was of a temporary character and related in
but a slight degree to the subsequent development. Some of the early sojourners
here, who came to the valley originally because of the river traffic or fur
trade, remained until after the fur trade had dwindled to insignificance •and
the traffic of the river boats had been largely absorbed by the railroads.
Several of the stage stations established along the river between Georgetown and
Pembina furnished temporary accommodations for the settlers coming into the
valley later; but Georgetown, Frog Point, Belmont, Turtle River, Kelly's Point
and Thirty-Mile Point are but reminders of the past. The Grand Forks stage
station of forty years ago occupied a site about half -a mile distant from the
commodious caravansaries of the present city, and the site thereof is occupied
by the palatial residences on Reeves avenue.

   The military post at Fort Abercrombie was abandoned soon after the permanent
settlement of the valley began, but the post at Pembina was occupied for a score
of years later, and the customs office at Pembina remains to this day, as a tie
binding the old settlements to the new. And Pembina alone has an unbroken record
of habitation dating back more than forty years. McAuleyville, once the scene of
great activity as the head of navigation for an international highway of more
than 500 miles in extent, and as the site of the first manufacturing enterprise
in the valley, in the form of a sawmill where material for the early boats and
some of the early building structures was cut, is now all but forgotten.

   The establishment of the line of stages between Fort Abercrombie and
Winnipeg, already mentioned, furnished temporary occupation for a number of
station agents and attaches, who remained, entered other occupations and became
permanent residents; likewise some of the number who were engaged in the river
traffic. Gardens and fields of greater or less extent were cultivated in
connection with the stage stations and military posts, and the marvelous
fertility of the valley soil gradually became known outside, and during the
early seventies the advance guard of the throng of actual settlers who followed
a little later occupied claims here and there along the river. The construction
of the Northern Pacific railroad from Duluth toward the Red River valley
attracted quite a number of settlers to the vicinity of Moorhead and Fargo in
1871 and 1872, the prospective location of a town at the crossing of the Red
river by the railroad.

   A number of families by the name of Hicks located near the present village of
Hickson, in Cass county, in 1869. Ole Standvoid came from Douglass county,
Minnesota, and located in the spring of 1870. Lars, Paul and Morten Mortenson
located near the mouth of the Sheyenne river the same year, and D. P. Harris
located in that section during the winter of 1870-71. Walter J. S. Traill was
placed in charge of the Hudson Bay company's interests in 1870, with
headquarters at Georgetown. He appointed A. H. Morgan agent at Belmont, and Asa
Sargent was located at Caledonia about the same time.

   One of the first permanent settlers in Grand Forks was George W. Aker, who is
still a resident of the city. Mr. Aker came from Milwaukee to McCauleyville in
September, 1870, and was engaged in teaming from that point during the fall. In
February, 1871, H. R. Vaughn, who had been employed during the winter building
the steamer Selkirk at McCauleyville, secured an appointment in the custom
office at Pembina and took his departure for that point. Aker accompanied him as
far as Grand Forks, and en route agreed with Vaughn to hold the latter's claim,
comprising a portion of the present city of Grand Forks, for him. Aker built a
log house near the site of St. Michael's hospital, which was for years one of
the landmarks of the city as the first permanent residence in Grand Forks. Mr.
Aker fulfilled his part of the agreement with Vaughn, but Vaughn finally turned
the claim over to Aker as a part of his compensation for time employed in
holding the same.

   About the first of April, 1871, a party consisting of Thomas "Walsh, Burton
Haney, James Jenks and Alexander Blair, in accordance with an arrangement with
Alex Griggs, left Henderson, Minn., bound for Grand Forks. They took with them
the equipment for a small sawmill and a stock of general merchandise, which they
freighted over to Georgetown. Arriving there, they found the river open but the
steamer Selkirk not yet in commission. A flatboat was hastily constructed, and,
loading their outfit thereon, they floated down the river, arriving at Grand
Forks April 15. Putting a floor, roof, window and door on the cabin partially
constructed by Captain Griggs, they made it their temporary abode until they
could construct other quarters. The sawmill machinery was set up and after the
mill was constructed they erected several other buildings, including a general
store building which was occupied by the firm of Griggs & Walsh. The steamer
Selkirk was launched April 12 and reached Grand Forks on the 18th, in command of
Captain Alex. Griggs. The Selkirk brought a number of passengers, and among
those who came here on that and subsequent trips who were identified with the
growth of Grand Forks were James Elton, D. M. Holmes, M. L. McCormack, Joseph
Greenwood, D. P. Reeves, 0. S. Freeman and others. John Stewart took charge of
the stage station about the same time, and succeeded Sanford Cady as postmaster.
John Fadden located a claim south of Captain Griggs' and was for a number of
years in charge of a ferry across the river just below the mouth of the Red Lake
river. He also ran the Northwestern hotel for a while, and was one of the active
men of the community.

   During the spring of 1871 there was marked activity in the valley, occasioned
by the extension of the Blakely & Carpenter line of stage coaches from Fort
Abercrombie to Winnipeg. The suppression of the Riel rebellion by the forces of
General Wolseley, the establishment of stable government in the province of
Assiniboia, and the influx of settlers from the Canadian maritime provinces made
speedier and better communication an imperative necessity. Four-horse coaches
moved up and down the valley every day. The roads were improved and bridges
built across the little streams, and by the middle of May the system was in good
working order. The relay stations erected at convenient points along the route
soon became centers of small settlements. Down the valley from Abercrombie there
was a station at Hutchinson's ferry, kept by J. M. Hutchinson; then at Georgtown
(Mr. Sterns kept the hostelry); at Elm River (Ned Griffin); at Goose River (Asa
Sargent); at Frog Point (Howard Morgan); at Grand Forks (John Stewart); at
Turtle River (Budge & Winship); at Kelley's Point (Andrus & Kelly); at
Thirty-Mile Point (James Hastings and Hugh Biggerstaff); at Twelve-Mile Point
(Frank La Rose), and at Pembina (Antoine Girard and George F. Potter). For the
first year or two these stations were of the crudest and most primitive
construction, but they furnished shelter and food for the traveler, and were
more appreciated than are the comfortable, hotels along the same route at this
time. The Turtle River station, where the town of Manuel is now located, was a
sample structure. It was made of logs and roofed with sod cut from the virgin
prairie. After the rains had washed most of the sod off, the thatching process
was resorted to, long, rank reeds being cut from nearby marshes and muddied on
by the sticky clay so abundant in the Red River valley. There was one window and
a door in the building, but no floor the first year, and no stove or other
household furniture. Cooking was done in a fireplace made of clay dobies, and
meals were served on an improvised table constructed from such material as could
be found in the nearby bush. Notwithstanding their primitivenes, these stations
were comfortable in the coldest days of the winter. Roaring fires in the
fireplaces radiated both heat and cheer, and travelers invariably paid, without
complaint, fifty cents per meal, and the same amount for the privilege of
sleeping on the floor.

   During the year 1871 a telegraph line was constructed from Fort Abercrombie
to "Winnipeg, and thus another progressive step was made which brought the
sparsely settled valley some nearer the civilized centers of the East. During
this same year the first settlers located on the Red Lake river opposite Grand
Forks, the Coulter and Fleming families being among those locating. Later W. C.
Nash, the Nesbit brothers, and others joined the settlement, and by 1875 it was
one of the most thriving communities in the Northwest. Mr. W. C. Nash's
settlement in the valley dates from the early sixties, when he engaged in
business both at Abercrombie and Pembina. He has been a resident of the country
ever since, and at present owns one of the finest farms in the valley, adjacent
to the city of East Grand Forks.

   The nucleus of an early settlement was started at Acton, in Walsh county, in
1878, when Budge, Eshelman & Anderson opened a general merchandise store at that
place. This was the gateway to the Park River country and was an important trade
center until cut off by the completion of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
road to Grafton. Antoine Girard, Thomas Parr and F. M. Winship were among the
early settlers of Acton. Mr. Winship established a weekly paper, "The Acton
News," in 1880, which was afterward moved to Grafton and merged with the "Times"
and now known as the "News-Times." Among the first settlers at Grafton were
Thomas E. Cooper, Nathan Upham and Jacob Reinhart, whose settlement antedates
the arrival of the iron horse. Farther up Park river was a settlement known as
Kensington, C. H. Honey, E. O. Faulkner and the Cade brothers being among the
early locators.

   A judicial district, comprising the eastern portion of the present state of
North Dakota, was established by the legislature of the territory during the
session of 1870-71, and Pembina was designated as the place of holding court.
The first session was held there in 1871, and Judge George W. French presided.
George I. Foster was clerk of court; L. H. Litchfield and Judson La Moure, who
had recently arrived from the southern part of the territory, were assistant
marshals; Warren Cowles was United States attorney. This was the first court
held in North Dakota.

   When the engineers of the Northern Pacific railway, early in July, 1871,
finally, after several feints, located the crossing of the Red river where the
bridge was later built, a number who had been holding claims at points along the
river, in hopes of owning the town site, abandoned their claims and moved
elsewhere. It was found that men in the employ of the Superior Land Company were
in the possession of nearly every claim in the vicinity. The land company later
withdrew and the railroad company received title to section six, and section
seven was divided among S. G. Roberts, Patrick Devitt, A. J. Marwood, Gordon J.
Keeney and Harriet Young. The town of Moorhead was laid out. Fargo was not
platted until a year later, but during the fall of 1871, owing to the high
prices of lots in Moorhead, many moved across the river to "Fargo in the timber"
and squatted there for the winter. Terrence Martin opened up a store in a tent,
which was the first mercantile enterprise in the state, except those connected
with the fur posts, military posts and stage stations. It was discovered that
the land on the west side of the river at Fargo was Indian land, and this
deterred actual settlement there for some time. It was not thrown open to
settlement until 1873. Peter Peterson and Roderick Nelson took squatter claims
in the country just north of Fargo in 1871. C. A. Roberts and John E. Haggart
were also among the number who took claims in the vicinity. A. J. Harwood and G.
J. Keeney together established in 1874 "The Fargo Express," the first newspaper
in the valley.

   Job Smith located on the site of the present city of Moorhead about 1868 and
for some time kept a stage station there. Andrew Holes came to the valley in
1869 and was engaged with the first public surveys on the east side of the
river. Later he was employed by Jay Cooke and others in locating land for them,
with a view to securing it on the advent of the Northern Pacific. He made his
headquarters with R. M. Probsfield, who had located three miles north of
Moorhead some years before. When the engineers finally decided On the crossing
which was adopted by the Northern Pacific, Holes arranged with Smith to prove up
OD his claim, and then purchased it of him for the railroad magnates. The
engineers had run several false lines, one to Probsfield's, which became known
as Oakport, and one as far north as Georgetown. Quite a number of prospective
business men of the crossing town were watching the engineers' movements, with a
view of locating a claim at just the right point. Among the number were Jacob
Metzger, Peter Goodman and D. P. Harris, who had been engaged in the fur trade,
and Dennis Hanafin. S. G. Comstock was with the construction company of the
railroad. Alex. Gamble, James Holes, John Kinan, Jens Johnson, Ole Lee, Ole
Matheson and others located along the west side of the river. Andrew Holes
located a claim where Fargo stands, and later bought several other claims, and
the town site company scripped the land on the west side of the river,
comprising several quarter sections. James Culbertson, 0. N. Olsgaard, Iver
Johnson and others located at the mouth of the Sheyenne river.

   The Puget Sound Land Company scripped considerable land in the vicinity of
Fargo and Moorhead, and at a meeting of the company held in September, 1871,
Fargo was named in honor of William G. Fargo, of the Wells-Fargo Express
Company, and Moorhead was named in honor of "William G. Moorhead, of the
Northern Pacific directory. A postoffice had been previously established at
Fargo, by the name of Centralia, with G. J. Keeney as postmaster, but the name
was afterwards changed to Fargo. The Fargo town site was surveyed and platted in
1872. The first building in Fargo was erected by J. S. Mann in 1871 and was
occupied as a hotel by Mann and A. H. Moore. The Headquarters hotel was
commenced in 1871, but was not finished and occupied until a year later. It w&s
opened by J. B. Chapin, April 1, 1873. E. Sweet erected the second building late
in 1871 and occupied it as a headquarters for the bridgebuilders. The Sherman
house was erected by Terrance Martin and opened July 4, 1873. Mann & Maddoeks
opened the first store in Fargo, except the tent store of Martin, in a building
they erected in the spring of 1872. The rails were laid to Moorhead on the
Northern Pacific on December 12, 1871. The first preaching services in Fargo and
Moorhead were held by Eev. 0. H. Elmer in 1872. At the close of the year 1872
the two or three hotels, a wagon and blacksmith shop, two or three saloons, the
engineers' headquarters, and several tar-paper shacks and tents constituted all
there was of Fargo.

   Cass county was organized in 1874 and was named after General Lewis Cass, of
Michigan, who was at that time president of the Northern Pacific railroad.
Construction work on the Northern Pacific moved westward during 1871 and 1872,
and a few settlers located along the line. D. D. McPadgen and Richard McKinnon
opened a hotel on the site of the present Valley City in 1871, and the town
later was built up there.

   Grand Forks was in 1871 in Pembina county, which then included most of the
eastern portion of the present state. The commissioners of the county in 1871
created new voting precincts. Grand Forks was made the polling place of a
district the northern boundary of which was the Park river, the western boundary
the western limits of the county, and the southern boundary the Goose river.
Thomas Walsh, Sanford Cady and John Fadden were appointed judges of election.

   The year 1872 was a somewhat disastrous year to the valley. Scarcely any rain
fell from the first of May until late in the fall. Vegetation dried up and
turned brown early in August. Early in September prairie fires raged all over
the valley and left the surface of the ground blackened and desolate. It was
indeed little wonder that General Hazen, who was sent out by the government that
summer to investigate the resources of the country through which the Northern
Pacific railway passed, reported that it was a barren waste, fit only for
Indians and buffalo. The following winter there was a very heavy snowfall, and a
serious flood in the spring, and then came the financial panic.

   Frog Point, now Belmont, which was established as a Hudson Bay post in 1871,
was for several years the head of navigation and an important shipping point for
the river traffic. A. M. Morgan had charge of the post there, and Asa Sargent
was in charge at Goose River, now Caledonia. Later, after the Hudson Bay Company
retired, Caledonia became the shipping point for the settlers coming into Traill
county, and was at one time in the seventies a town of 300 population. A. M.
Morgan was engaged in business there, and also J. E. Paulson, John Sundt, M.
Shelly and E. T. Jahr. When the railroad was built from Grand Forks to Fargo,
later, Hillsboro supplanted Caledonia, and the most of the business men there
moved over to the new town.

   The Hudson Bay Company moved its headquarters from Georgetown to Grand Forks
in 1873 and bought the Griggs & Walsh store, and also the sawmill. The company
also erected the Northwestern hotel. W. J. S. Traill was in charge of the
company's store, and Frank Viets, who had opened a hotel at Georgetown in 1870
in the post building, took charge of the Northwestern hotel.

   The new territorial legislature of 1872 passed a bill creating several new
counties, among them Grand Forks, Cass, Richland, Cavalier, Ransom, Foster,
LaMoure, Renville and Stutsman. The act was signed by the' governor January 4,
1873. John W. Stewart, Ole Thompson and G. B. Winship were named as the first
commissioners. Thompson failed to qualify, and in July, Messrs. Stewart and
Winship named O. S. Freeman to fill the vacancy, and the board proceeded to the
organization of the county. J. J. Mullen was appointed register of deeds and
county clerk; Thomas Walsh, judge of probate; O. S. Freeman, county attorney and
superintendent of schools; Alex. Griggs, treasurer1, and Nick Hoffman, sheriff.
The organization was allowed to lapse, and a reorganization was effected in
1874, Governor Bur-bank appointing D. P. Reeves, G. A. Wheeler and Alex. Griggs
as commissioners. They completed the organization in March, 1875, by the
appointment of James Elton as register of deeds; Nick Hoffman, sheriff; Thomas
Walsh, treasurer and judge of probate; George A. Wheeler, superintendent of
schools.

   The failure of Jay Cooke in 1873 and the financial crash which followed not
only had the effect of causing a suspension of work on the extension of the
Northern Pacific through North Dakota, but retarded, to a great extent,
immigration, which had begun populating the valley; and it was a number of years
before there was again a movement in this direction. Grand Forks remained but a
struggling village of one or two hundred population. Fargo had not very much the
better of it in this respect, and the other towns of the valley were but mere
hamlets. A large proportion of the land within a few miles of the Red river had
been filed on by prospective settlers or speculators, who used scrip, but
comparatively little farming was being done anywhere in the valley. There was no
market here for grain, and no railroad near enough to haul out grain if it had
been marketed. Some small areas farther south in the vicinity of Fargo were
being cultivated and the surplus products shipped out over the Northern Pacific.
In 1876 Frank Viets erected in Grand Forks a hotel, for years known as the Viets
house, and now the Hotel Hall. He also erected a flour mill, and this gave some
little impetus to the cultivation of wheat, but it was some years before the
tributary population became numerous enough to keep the wheels grinding
steadily, although the capacity was but fifty barrels at first.

   The river traffic developed to considerable proportions between 1875 and
1880. A boat yard was established in Grand Forks by D. P. Reeves, and the
steamer Sheyenne was built here, and later other steamers. The steamers
Minnesota and Manitoba. were built at Moorhead in 1875. About the same time N.
W. Kittson and others organized the Red River Transportation Company, which has
been in business and navigating the river continuously ever since. The steamer
Alpha was built by the company at McCauleyville, and later the steamer Alsop was
built by H. "W. Alsop, of Fargo. He also bought the steamer Pluck, at. Brainerd,
transported it by rail to Moorhead, where it was lengthened and again launched.
These boats were later bought by the Red River Transportation Company, and
subsequently the same company constructed the steamer Grand Forks and numerous
barges. In addition to the steamboats plying the river. numerous flatboats were
in commission hauling north-bound freight, the boats being taken apart and the
lumber sold at the end of the trip.

   In 1872-73 the St. Paul & Pacific railroad, which had built a, line to
Breckenridge, constructed a line from Glyndon, on the Northern Pacific,
extending south to Barnesville and north a few miles to Crookston. Then the
enterprise lagged, as a result of the financial troubles, and nothing more was
done for several years. In the meantime the Canadian Pacific road was being
built in detached sections, and the contractor who had charge of the building of
a division extending east from Winnipeg arranged to have the rails and other
supplies shipped over the Northern Pacific to Moorhead and thence down the river
to Winnipeg on flatboats. Large quantities were shipped in this way during 1875
and 1876. In 1877, owing to trouble encountered during low water in getting over
the bar at Goose Rapids, arrangements were made with the St. Paul & Pacific
road, and a spur track was built from Crookston to Fisher's Landing, which has
since become Fisher, and the rails and other supplies were loaded on barges
there instead of at Moorhead. The new shipping point became the head of
navigation for a number of years, a large volume of traffic being handled in
that way, the steamboats also taking Canadian-bound passengers from the railroad
at that point. Thousands of settlers, both those who located in northwestern
Canada and those stopping in North Dakota, came in by way of Fisher's Landing.

   This story at this point makes Grand Forks perhaps unduly conspicuous, but
the history of the valley during these years was mostly made up of events at
Grand Forks, at the Fargo and Moorhead settlements, and at Pembina, which was
then the base of the fur trade and of military operations, as well as the
customs service. Grand Forks at the end of its first five years' existence was a
town of less than 200 population. (The accompanying engraving, made from a
sketch by Thomas Lawson in 1874, shows, as a matter of fact, all there was of
the town, except a few scattered log cabins along the timber here and there.)

   The United States land office was opened at Pembina in 1874, and during the
same year the government land adjacent to Grand Forks was opened to settlement.
Among the first entries of land made in this vicinity were the filings of
Alexander Griggs, O. S. Freeman, John Fadden, Sr., and J. S. Eshelman. The first
school in this section was opened in Grand Forks in a log shack late in 1874,
with Miss Hattie Richmond as teacher. The teacher was paid by private
contributions. Early in 1875 a school building was erected at a cost of $500,
and Rev. William Curie, a Methodist minister sent here from the Iowa conference,
was placed in charge. There were not over a dozen pupils at that time. "The
Grand Forks Plaindealer" was established in July, 1875, by George H. Walsh, and
was for some years published weekly.

   The first church building in Grand Forks, and one of the first in the
territory, except a number of Catholic mission chapels established for the
Indians earlier, was that of the Methodist denomination. It was a small frame
building and stood near the site of the present Methodist church. The first
religious service here of which there is a record was held in Captain Alex.
Griggs' house, February 11, 1872, by Rev. O. H. Elmer, in charge of the
Presbyterian mission at Moorhead.

   During the early seventies, settlers from Iowa, a large proportion of whom
were Scandinavians or of Scandinavian descent, began coming into the territory
and locating mainly along the streams tributary to the Red river, the Goose,
Sheyenne and others, and beginning operations on a small scale in the way of
opening farms. So well satisfied were these pioneer settlers, in the main, that
their neighbors and countrymen whom they had left behind profited by their
advice and came also in steadily increasing numbers. John Lindstrom came from
Northwood, Iowa, in the fall of 1870, locating at the mouth of the Sheyenne. His
nearest neighbor was at that time sixteen miles down the river. In 1873, with
his brother Lars, he located near Northwood, in Grand Forks county. Halvor
Solem, Nels Korsmo, and others located in that vicinity in 1874. In 1876, Peter
Thinglestad, Hans Thinglestad, Paul Johnson, Andrew Nelson, and others, all from
the vicinity of Northwood, Iowa, located in the vicinity of the present village
of Northwood, in this state, in 1875 and 1876. These early pioneers hauled the
surplus grain they raised to Caledonia or Grand Forks for shipment. Ox teams
were largely the motive power used, and farming under such circumstances had its
drawbacks. The fertility of the soil asserted itself, however, and the further
fact that here was an empire of the richest soil to be found anywhere, and all
ready for the plow, awaiting occupation as a gift from Uncle Sam. The effect of
the financial panic was disappearing, and railroad construction towards North
Dakota had been commenced again. These and other results attracted a large
immigration into the territory during 1878 and 1879 and the following years. New
towns and villages came into existence, and the Red River valley, after-lying
dormant, as it were, so long, began to take on new life.

   The St. Paul & Pacific railroad, which had been built from St. Paul to
Melrose before the panic of 1873, was extended in 1878 to Barnesville and
connection made there with the branch extending up the east side of the Red
river to St. Vincent. During the same year James J. Hill became the general
manager. In 1879 the road was reorganized as the St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Manitoba. The spur which had been extended from Crookston to Fisher's Landing
was extended to East Grand Forks, and during the following winter the river was
bridged and Grand Forks became connected by rail with the outside world. The
north line was also extended to St. Vincent, at the international boundary line.
The line was built south from Grand Forks as far as Hillsboro. The Northern
Pacific was extended^ to the western boundary of the territory, and other lines
were being surveyed. In 1880 Fargo and Grand Forks were connected by rail, and
Hillsboro, Reynolds, Buxton, and other thriving towns-located between, were
growing. The United States land office was opened in Grand Forks, April 20,
1880, with B. C. Tiffany register and W. J. Anderson receiver, and this place
became the headquarters and fitting-out point for settlers locating to the west
and north of Grand Forks. In 1881 the work of the extension of the St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railway west and also north from Grand Forks was begun.
Settlers were pushing-out beyond the railroads, however, and more were coming in
by every train. Fargo and Gand Forks, as well as the younger cities of the.
valley, were growing rapidly, and new towns were appearing here and there over
the rapidly settling territory. Grand Forks was incorporated as a city in 1881,
with W. H. Brown as the first mayor. The census that year gave the place a
population of 1,700. Many of the settlers coming into the valley found temporary
quarters in the city, and it was almost impossible to build hotels and
boarding-houses fast enough to accommodate the incoming settlers. Large
quantities of merchandise in the way of settlers' supplies were required, and
the business of the railroad towns doubled and quadrupled during these years.

   In 1881 the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba road was extended northward from
Grand Porks to Grafton, and the west line was extended to Bartlett, in Nelson
county. Still another line was extended north from Wahpeton to Larimore, and the
Northern Pacific built from Casselton north to Mayville. Grafton, Mayville,
Lakota and other towns became supply points, and settlers from Iowa, Illinois,
Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin and other states, and from Ontario, came into the
valley and pushed out into the unoccupied territory. In 1882 the railroad lines
were extended north to the boundary line at Neche, and west to Devils Lake,
bringing more thriving towns into existence.

   As the settlement of the valley proceeded, it became noticeable that arrivals
from different sections were locating in settlements together to a large extent.
In addition to the numerous immigrants from Scandinavian countries and from
Ontario, which were scattered throughout the valley, there might be seen here
and there groups of settlers coming from widely separated corners of the earth.
In western Grand Forks county were large numbers of farmers from the vicinity of
Niagara, New York, and naturally North Dakota soon had a Niagara of its own. In
western Walsh county a large number of settlers from Bohemia were found. In
eastern Walsh county was a large settlement of French. Over in Pembina was a
large colony, of settlers from Iceland, and in other sections settlements of
Germans, Scotch and other nationalities were represented.

   S. G. Comstock and A. A. White made an arrangement with the St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railway to handle the town sites along the extensions,
and platted a large number of the towns along its various lines.

   Hillsboro, which was platted in 1880, was made the county seat of Traill
county. In September, 1880; A: H. Morgan and James Rogers erected the first
store building there, and A. H. Morgan and J. E. Paulson were the first to
engage in business. The place was first named Hill City, in honor of James J. Hill.

   Grafton was platted in 1881 and was named after Grafton, N. Y., by Thomas E.
Cooper, one of the pioneer settlers of Park river. It was made the county seat
of Walsh county. The county was named after George H. Walsh, who was at that
time speaker of the house of representatives.

   In 1882 the Northern Pacific and Mr. James J. Hill arrived at an
understanding as to the territory of the two systems, and as a result the
Northern Pacific relinquished its branch extending north from Casselton and
discontinued construction northward from Portland in Traill county, and for
years Mr. Hill's lines kept out of Northern Pacific territory west.

   By the close of 1883 practically all of the arable land in the valley had
been taken by settlers, and a large part of the territory was under cultivation.
The surplus of settlers was pouring on westward into the upland counties and
going out farther and farther from the railroad lines.

   The first rush of the claim shanty period over, the settlers on the prairie
lands set themselves about their chosen occupation of farming. The temporary
settlers, consisting of clerks and mechanics, merchants, teachers, professional
men and others, who had taken "claims" because of possible quick pecuniary
returns rather than with any intention of engaging in actual farming themselves,
relinquished them to others, for a consideration, or obtained what money they
could in the way of loans, and they afterwards fell into the hands of other owners.

   The so-called timber culture law, which was later abolished, proved of
immense value to the valley as an incentive to the planting of trees, and
hundreds of settlers who planted five or ten acres of trees, at first merely in
order to secure title to the land, found later that they could not have made a
better investment of either time or money, and the magnificent groves of timber
resulting have, in fact, changed the face of the earth, influenced the climatic
conditions, and added literally millions of dollars to the value of the lands.

   The farming in the Red River valley during the first twenty years of
occupation was of a most primitive kind. The use of a breaking-plow the first
season, and of the cross-plow, the drill, the harvester and the threshing
machine, in one continual round, yielded rich returns of wheat and other
cereals. But slight attention was paid to other branches of farming, and money
came easy to the farmers. The small shanties gave place to substantial
farm-houses, and the temporary stables gave place in time to commodious barns
and machinery sheds. However, there was a perceptible diminution in returns from
the early farming methods, and gradually the farmers of the valley found it
necessary to take up improved methods of farming and raise stock and otherwise
diversify their farming in order to secure the best results.

   The development of the cities and towns of the valley has scarcely kept pace
with that of the farming interests, although there has been a steady growth in
this direction, and Grand Forks, Fargo, Larimore, Grafton, Hillsboro, Mayville
and the other principal cities of the valley have within the 'past few years
taken on metropolitan proportions. The extension of new lines of railway out
over the valley in every direction have within the past few years placed Grand
Forks and Fargo at an advantage as railroad distributing centers, and both have
built up a large trade with outlying territory. The outlook for the years to
come in the valley could hardly be brighter than it is today, and it will
continue, as in the past, to be one of the most prosperous sections of the
country.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY
PAST AND PRESENT
Including an Account of the Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages of the Valley
from the Time of Their First Settlement and Formation

BY VARIOUS WRITERS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME I


ILLUSTRATED
HERALD PRINTING COMPANY GRAND FORKS
C. F. COOPER & COMPANY
CHICAGO
1909


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