The Red River Trail

The Red River Trail. Great River Road Minnesota. , Long before a paved highway ran past this spot, there was an important road here: the Red River Trail. From the late 1830s through the early 1870s, thousands of heavy wood carts bearing furs and other treasures passed over the trail from the Canadian wilderness to the commercial center of St. Paul. On the return trip, they hauled supplies and barter., Three Branches , The Red River Trail had three main branches. The northerly Woods Trail left the Red River near the Canadian border, followed the Crow Wing River to the Mississippi River, and proceeded downstream along the path now followed by this road, U.S. Highway 10. The East Plains Trail left the Red River near Breckenridge and ran roughly parallel to the route now followed by I-94 before fording the Mississippi and joining the Woods Trail a few miles north of here. The West Plains Trail followed the Red River to Lake Traverse, then the Minnesota River to St. Paul., Wood Pegs and Rawhide , The carts were massive two-wheeled vehicles made entirely of wood. Wood pegs and rawhide held them together. The spoked wheels, designed to pass over rocky river bottoms without breaking and through soggy marshes without sinking, were five feet in diameter and three inches thick. Each cart was pulled by a single animal, either an ox or a horse. The drivers, known as métis (MAY-tees), generally walked beside the carts. By tying each animal to the cart in front of it, one driver could handle as many as ten carts., Prairie Freight Trains , Like prairie freight trains, the Red River carts traveled in caravans, some with more than a hundred carts. Because no grease was used on their axles, the creaking of a caravan on the move was a deafening screech that could be heard for miles around., It cost about $15 to build a Red River cart. A cart in regular service traveled about 1600 km (1000 miles) each season and often lasted several years., The metis, of mixed European and Indian descent, lived in what is now northeastern North Dakota. Meti is the French word for "mixed blood.", After the Civil War, with the development of more efficient forms of transportation, stagecoaches, steamboats, and railroads, the Red River Trail fell into disuse., Single File , By tying each animal to the cart in front of it, one driver could handle as many as ten carts. A fully loaded cart could carry 360 to 450 kilograms (800 to 1,000 lbs.) of freight.