Some Historical Facts To Know About Wahpeton

By Harold Meyer


In North Dakota, there is a city found along the Bois de Sioux River and congruent to the Otto Tail River, forming the Red River. This is the city of Wahpeton, one of the oldest and most fertile cities in the area. It is very interesting to note that the city dates back up until the year 1767 but was founded in 1869. Here is the time line of this very rich and historical city that a lot of residents and tourists alike love.

The actual founding of the city was sometime during the year 1869. Although the city itself was founded during this time, it was in 1767 that the area was first discovered by a European by the name of Jonathan Carver. Carver was tasked to look for the Northwest Passage but his travels paved way for more Europeans to flock to the area.

After the exploration period, the Civil War in the United States spark and eventually ended. That left the United States Government more room to make developments in the areas around the country with Dakota being one of its priorities. JW Blanding headed this project because he discovered the land to be extremely fertile in which he also decided to migrate there.

While it was JW Blanding that first settled in the land, it was Morgan Rich who made the first community in 1869. The people who followed Rich made a small community and named it Richville in honor of its founder. With that, the small community helped develop the land made use of this fertile soil for growing all kinds of crops and plants.

Eventually, the town changed its name from Richville to Chahinkapa sometime in the year 1871. After some years passed by, the community was turned into a county named the Chahinkapa County. Just for one to have an idea, Chahinkapa means the end of the woods, which was the name chosen because of the forest areas that surrounded the county during that time.

After that, they decided to change the name again to Richland County and then to the name that most people are familiar with. Another interesting thing to know is that the name actually is based on one of the local tribes that resided there known as the Wakhpetonwan. These local Indians used to live beside the Lake Mille Lacs but were eventually driven away by a rivaling tribe.

A year later, the country further improved economically because they built a whole new set of railroads which brought in more travelers. Aside from travelers, a lot of freight deliveries going to Dakota made use of these railroads and trains. Also, it was because of these railroads that more immigrants came to the countryside which made there more settlers.

Today, this city is booming having several large manufacturing plants located in it. Further development of the city was implemented when the voters approved of a one and a half percent tax that goes directly to improving the city. Because of that, this city is a great attraction for a lot of tourists and wonderful home for the residents as it is very livable and beautiful.




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