Section
1: The Holy Dog, Ox Carts, and River Trade
Traveling
across the prairie was difficult for this area's first people. The
introduction of the horse allowed them to move around more easily
and to hunt buffalo more efficiently. The Lakota/Dakota people called
the horse the "Holy Dog."
A small, two-wheeled, animal-drawn
cart was used to establish the first regular trading routes between
the fur traders in the Pembina area and what is now the Twin Cities.
Drawn by a single oxen, the "Red River Oxcart" could haul up to 1,000
pounds about 25 miles in a 10-hour day. Large trains of more than
100 carts were a common sight by the 1820s.
President Thomas Jefferson
saw the Missouri River as a way to transport goods to new settlements.
He organized an expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark,
to explore the Missouri up to its source to find "the most direct
and practicable water communication across this continent for the
purposes of commerce." Lewis and Clark's successful expedition turned
the Missouri into a primary route of travel.
The first expeditions using
steamboats on the Missouri were largely a failure because of the river's
shallow water. Flat-bottomed, wide-hulled boats with a shallow draft
were developed and began hauling passengers and freight on the Missouri
and other shallow rivers.
Commercial boat operations
began on the Red River in 1859 as part of an effort to create a better
transportation route connecting St. Paul with the Red River settlements
in present-day Manitoba. The St. Paul Chamber of Commerce offered
$1,000 to the first man who would place a steamboat on the Red River.
Young Anson Northup got the chamber to double the offer, and his steamer,
the Anson Northup, arrived in Winnipeg in June of 1859.
Chronology
|
Late 1700's
|
Horses begin to
appear on the northern Plains.
|
|
1797
|
First trading post
is established at Pembina.
|
|
1801
|
First permanent
trading post is established at Pembina.
|
|
1804
|
Lewis and Clark
begin their expedition.
|
|
1859
|
Commercial boat
operations begin on the Red River.
|
|
1860
|
Ox cart use begins
to decline.
|
|
1862
|
Sioux Uprising.
|
|
1871
|
Track layers reach
the Red River at both Moorhead and Breckenridge.
|
|
1875
|
Manitoba and St.
Paul businessmen form a steamboat line.
|
|
1896
|
Gasoline-powered
boat is built in Bismarck.
|
|
1943
|
Last boat of any
size to navigate to Missouri River heads south.
|
Discussion Questions
How did the
arrival of the horse affect North Dakota's first people?
What were the goals
of Lewis and Clark, and how did they change history?
How did river traffic
change over the years?
How did boat builders
overcome the shallow waters of North Dakota rivers?
What were the advantages
and disadvantages of ox carts?
How were the first
overland routes in North Dakota established?
Describe commercial
boat traffic in North Dakota.
Vocabulary
- Holy Dog
- Lewis and Clark
- Thomas Jefferson
- Toussaint Charbonneau
and Sakakawea
- Metis People
- Ox cart
- Anson Northup
