Red River Trails : Oxcart Routes Between St Paul and the Selkirk Settlement 1820-1870 (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society.)

Very thorough history of all the oxcart trail systems in Minnesota before the railroad came through. Excellent for the serious history student One caveat: The maps of the trails are printed too faintly in this reprint--a little difficult to use. Otherwise a great book for the history buff.

This book had to be most challenging to compile but it is wonderfully done with accuracy. Being Metis from early Peoples of Red River Colony of Manitoba the buffalo trails are significant to me. I love the maps and the research that went into this fine product concerning the early trade routes between Canada and the United States. I wish I'd known of this twenty years ago!

One of the most valuable resources for studies of early Minnesota transportation routes for ox carts, freight wagons, and stagecoaches. It has the most accurate route-maps and commentaries for researchers. I was most interested in the Middle Trail through Douglas, Grant, Otter Tail, and Wilkin Counties to Fort Abercrombie. The Reference Notes are a gold mine of primary sources.

As described

Red River Trails is an interesting book on the various 19th century trails between St. Paul and the Red River Settlements.Anyone interested in Minnesota History, history of the fur trade or frontier living in the 1800s will find this book interesting.

A gift for a friend in Minnesota. her grandchildren were amazed by the history in their area.It's a rare find. Good illustrations and many local historical facts for the St. Paul, MN area.

Book used for historical research.

I responded to this four years ago

This is a very well researched book about Red River cart routes between Winnipeg and St Paul, Minnesota. A team of writers from the Minnesota Historical Society has done an excellent job of researching the seven cart routes in Manitoba, North Dakota, and Minnesota. In the early 1800's, long before NAFTA, this was the only way to conduct trade between the two countries in the West, as the Red River was only partially navigable. Everything came up the Mississippi to St Paul, the trail and rail head.Maps are extensive and helpful to amateur historians trying to find remains of the original cart tracks. Having grown up in Winnipeg I was pleased to learn that Pembina Hwy, the north/south artery in Winnipeg, was paved over the original Red River cart route to the USA border. This was a street I lived close to and travelled almost daily. The Carlton Trail, the route west of Winnipeg is not investigated, but the reader will get an understanding of how important these primitive cart routes were to opening up this part of the continent.The cart was a Metis invention and was built of native oak from the banks of the Red River. It used no nails or screws, but held together by bison hide and could carry loads up to 450 kg., pulled by oxen. There were probably thousands of these vehicles, and their huge wheels left deep ruts in the black soil, creating the early roads which turned into today's modern highways.