Part 2: Fur Trade on the Red River

Part 2: Vocabulary

Anson Northrup:

  • First steamboat to sail down the Red River
  • Sailed from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Garry

Bartering:

  • Trading items for other items without exchanging money

Belcourt, Father George:

  • Established the first flour mill in North Dakota
  • Brought the first church bell to North Dakota
  • The town of Belcourt is named after him

Bonza, Mrs. Pierre:

  • Gave birth to the first non-Indian child born in North Dakota

Bottineau, Pierre:

  • A Métis who worked at keeping peace between settlers and Indian tribes
  • Nicknamed “The Walking Peace Pipe”
  • Mapped the city of Wahpeton
  • Bottineau County and the town of Bottineau are named after him

Caravan:

  • Group traveling in a line

Cavaleer, Charles:

  • Established the first permanent agricultural community in North Dakota
  • Cavalier County and the town of Cavalier are named after him

Confluence:

  • The place where two rivers join together

Decade:

  • Ten years

Descendants:

  • Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.

Downstream:

  • With the current

Earl of Selkirk:

  • Thomas Douglas
  • Established the Selkirk Colony by bringing displaced Scottish farmers to the Red River Valley

Fort Garry:

  • Present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • Located on the Red River north of Pembina

Fort Pembina:

  • First permanent non-Indian settlement in North Dakota

49th Parallel:

  • Boundary line between North Dakota (U.S.) and Canada

Fubbister, John:

  • Hudson’s Bay Company agent who was a woman in disguise
  • Real name was Isobel Gunn

Gingras, Antoine:

  • Owned a chain of trading posts along the Red River
  • His log house and store are preserved at Walhalla
  • Briefly had a county named after him

Gunn, Isobel:

  • Woman disguised as “John Fubbister”
  • Worked as an agent for Hudson’s Bay Company

Henry, Alexander:

  • Built first permanent trading post in North Dakota

Hudson’s Bay Company:

  • British fur trading company headquartered in Canada
  • Branched down into North Dakota

Kittson, Norman:

  • Established the first post office in North Dakota
  • The oldest building in North Dakota is Kittson’s trading post

Long, Major Stephen:

  • Surveyor who located the 49th parallel
  • Proved that Pembina was in the United States, not in Canada

Merged:

  • Joined together

Métis:

  • A person born of an Indian parent and a European (white) parent
  • Means “mixed blood”

North West Company:

  • French fur trading company headquartered in Canada
  • Built first fur trading post in North Dakota

Northrup, Anson:

  • Steamboat pilot who ran the first steamboat on the Red River

Ox:

  • Full-grown bull that has been neutered
  • Huge animal, stronger than a horse
  • Plural is “oxen”

Pemmican:

  • Healthful food made of dried meat mixed with fat and dried fruit

Red River cart:

  • High, two-wheeled cart pulled by an ox or a horse
  • Invented by Métis
  • Could carry huge amounts of goods to major trade centers
  • Also called “ox carts”

Rolette, Joe:

  • Métis who organized the first caravan of Red River carts to St. Paul
  • Nickname—“Jolly Joe”
  • Town of Rolette is named after him

St. Paul:

  • Trade center in Minnesota located about 400 miles southeast of Pembina
  • Destination for Red River cart caravans

Selkirk Colony:

  • First settlement in North Dakota that included women and children
  • Located at Pembina

Semi-annual:

  • Twice a year

Stockade:

  • Wall built of tall posts set upright
  • Often surrounded a fort

Upstream:

  • Against the current