Red River Ox Cart Trail
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                 Historical Mural - Red River Ox Cart Trail

   The Red River Ox Cart traveled from Pembina, North Dakota in the Red
   River Valley area and Canada, down through primitive Minnesota
   territory to St. Paul. The ox cart was used as a substitute by the
   Hudson Bay fur trading industry.

   In 1844 the Red River Ox Cart Trail closed followed East River Road.
   As far as we can tell, ox were unique in that they were the only carts
   of that kind in the world. The carts were made primarily of oak and
   cost about $15 to make. They could carry weights of furs and supplies
   of up to a thousand pounds per cart. They were pulled by an ox or
   horse and ran tandem two, three, or more carts together with a driver
   for each three to five carts. The drivers were called "boisbrule" and
   their ancestry was Indian, Scottish, and French.

   The ox cart proved to be a boon to the fur traders because they could
   carry furs from Pembina at much less cost than through the Hudson Bay
   Company. The ox cart going south was loaded with hides covered by a
   buffalo robe, and on the way north they would carry everything from an
   occasional piano to sacks of flour or whatever supplies were needed
   back at Pembina and locations along the way. The ox carts could be
   heard five miles away because of their squeaky wheels, and they would
   sometimes travel as many as 200 carts in a line. They crossed the
   river in Anoka in two places, one near the junction of the Rum and
   Mississippi Rivers and the other near the former Anoka State Hospital
   location and then proceeded through Coon Rapids.

   The ox carts were well-known and there are a number of pictures on
   file at the State and County Historical Societies. The Ox Cart Trail
   was used from 1844 until 1857. Ox carts were no longer used by the
   turn of the century. In 1957 the Ox Cart Trail became known as the
   U.S. Military Road and by 1859 it was shown as such on a map that was
   drawn by Mr. William Carter.


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