| Summary: | History of Park River This is the story of Park River. It began not 75, not 100 years ago, but long before Indian or white man appeared; a great arm from the Gulf of Mexico formed an inland salt sea covering the western half of the Mississippi Valley and extending far into British America. The layers of rock underneath our soil were once the mud bottoms of that sea. As the centuries passed, the sea withdrew and the land appeared, gradually covered by drift soil and vegetation. Then came the period of the glaciers, mile high rivers of ice and snow, which bore down from the Arctic, grinding huge boulders to gravel, sand and clay. Here these gigantic rivers cut a tableland so flat that our horizons are boundless. Then as the weather gradually grew warmer and ice began to melt; as the glaciers receded to the north, they left a vast lake which we call Lake Agassiz. For hundreds of years the fine sediment of ground up limestone deposited by the early sea, mixed with the black organic matter in the lake, until, as the waters of the lake slowly dried, there was formed the valley of the Red River, which, for its size, is probably the most fertile and most nearly level area in the world. And in this fruitful valley lies the small well knit community known as Park River. "Dam Built By Beavers" FRED HULTSTRAND "HISTORY IN PICTURES" North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies The choice of where the trading posts would be built was largely determined by the presence of beaver dams. The spot which is selected for a dam is usually on a small stream that doesn't have much current. The beaver selects a narrow place in the stream so that the dam will be as near as possible to any fallen trees and the like. What is now the town of Park River and the surrounding area was particularly desirable on account of the dams along this stream. The Park River was so named from the fact that the Assiniboine Indians made a park or pound along the river for the buffalo and headed them in from all directions and then slaughtered them. The First Inhabitants Of This Area The Indians who once lived in what is now Walsh County were the Chippewas, a small contingent of Ottowas, the Cheyennes and the Assiniboines. At one time, while the Chippewas were out hunting for supplies, during their absence, the Sioux attacked their village and killed a great number of old men, women and children. The territory, which was necessary to cross to get to the Park River was disputed ground- where it was dangerous for either the Sioux or the Chippewas to hunt. Alexander Henry hired a band of Indians (mostly Chippewas) to hunt beaver for the Northwest Fur Company. One of the first inhabitants of this area. Early Park River History The people who transformed the prairies into the matchless land it is today came from all corners of the globe. Many from Canada- Scots, Irish, French, and English; Yankees came from the East; Scandinavians from Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin; Germans, Czechs, Poles and many immigrants from Europe; to form a cosmopolitan community as fine as anybody would ever wish to live in. They tamed the prairies and built the towns and cities, and the rich heritage left to their successors is proof of their unflagging industry and progressive spirit. Many of the early settlers walked the fifty odd miles from Grand Forks. Others came by ox cart or steamboat to Kelly's Landing, twenty five miles east on the Red River, and then walked overland to this Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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