Using Maps

PRE-AUTOMOBILE TRAVEL IN NORTH DAKOTA
There were several well established trails in North Dakota prior to the invention of the automobile. In the far eastern portion of the state were trails made by the Red River carts. These were large two-wheel carts, pulled by oxen, that hauled animal hides and other supplies to and from markets. When the military began establishing forts in what is now North Dakota, they needed to have supplies brought in. Many of these supplies were transported overland and well defined trails were established.

North Dakota became a state in 1889. Automobiles were not invented and most people who traveled either walked or went by horseback. If people went any great distances, they generally traveled by railroad, a covered wagon, stagecoach, or took a boat on one of the rivers. From the map of North Dakota, you can see it would be difficult to travel from Fargo to Beach if you wanted to use the rivers, that’s why the railroads were so popular with travelers.

Most of the Red Line Trail in North Dakota was built very near to the tracks of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Construction of the railroad began in Fargo in 1872, reached Bismarck in 1873. At first, that’s where the railroad ended until a bridge could be built across the Missouri River. Finally in 1879 the railroad crossed to Mandan. It took two years to complete the railroad across the rest of the way across North Dakota into Montana in 1881. After that, smaller railroads were built to carry passengers and so farmers and ranchers could ship their products to market. Most of the early towns in North Dakota were built along a railroad. This old map show where railroads ran.