During the summer of 1801, Alexander Henry and his employees built a new trading post named “Fort Pembina” near the Red River just south of the Canadian border. They had built a different post the year before and called it Park River, but a spring flood forced them to relocate. Sometime that summer, they began constructing and using carts made entirely of wood, including wheels made from solid pieces cut from the trunks of 3-foot-wide trees; these were the forerunners of the famous Red River Carts, which would come to play a large part in the area’s future economy.

On this date in 1801, Henry celebrated the completion of Ft. Pembina by erecting a flagstaff and giving each of his men two gallons of (quote) high wines, four fathoms of tobacco and some flour and sugar to make merry (end quote).

 

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