SETTLEMENT OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY
The Red River flows north in the center of the old bottom glacial Lake Agassiz. The lake once covered about 350,000 square miles and was about 300 feet deep in the area that is now Fargo. Melting water and runoff carried large amounts of fine sediment, which reached a depth of more than 100 feet in some places. That fine sediment has since transformed into the rich, black topsoil that fuels the valley's huge agricultural industry.

But the first people in the area were the ones who discovered the fruits of the giving ground. About 800 years ago, these native people grew squash, corn and other vegetables and hunted bison and deer. Clam, turtle and catfish remains have been found at campsites along the river.

In the spring of 1734, a band of Indians from Lake Winnipeg and the Red River area arrived at French explorer Sieur de la Verendrye's post on Lake of the Woods. Verendrye then sent two Frenchmen to find a place for a post at the mouth of the river. These voyagers recorded the European discovery of the Red River of the North.

In the early days, Frenchmen, Englishmen, Canadians and Americans were attracted to this fertile region. The valley was the first part of North Dakota occupied when Lord Selkirk introduced settlers to the area in 1799.

In 1812, the first settlers - Scotch families from the Hudson's Bay Company - came to Pembina. However, the American Fur Company did not officially establish the town until 1840. Joe Rolette, a frontiersman, fur trader and one of the company's ablest men, was sent to Pembina. Pembina county was created by the Dakota Legislature in 1867. The first entry on public land in the county was the next year. There were only 28 entries by the end of 1870, all around Pembina North Dakota became a state in 1889. Fort Abercrombie was built in 1857 on the west bank of the Red, 12 miles north of Wahpeton. The fort and Breckenridge, Minnesota, on the East Side of the river, were main centers of navigation in the earliest days of the Red River's steamboat era.

THE RED RIVER PROVIDES, THREATENS LIVES
The first United States survey of the Red River was completed in 1823. Beginning near Wahpeton where the Ottertail and Bois de Sioux rivers meet, the Red forms the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota on its journey to Lake Winnipeg. Its course twists and meanders, resulting in an actual river mileage of about 549 miles or nearly twice the amount of land miles. The Red River Basin is 15 miles wide at the south end and spreads up to 70 miles on an east-west line at the Red Lake.

Flooding is often a threat along a body of water, and the Red is no exception. One of the most astounding floods on the Red was in the spring of 1861 when masses of broken ice formed large dams. Water ran over the river's banks and remained on the prairies for nearly two weeks.

Fargo is lower in elevation than Moorhead and has always suffered more from flooding. In 1943, an especially serious flood caused St. John's Hospital (now Prairie Psychiatric Center) to be evacuated, putting local health care in jeopardy. After that flood, the city decided to build a flood control dike and work began on that in 1959. The selected site lay right across a bend in the river, which meant changing the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, requiring congressional approval. With that act, about 22 acres of Minnesota became part of North Dakota. On April 11, 1997 the Red River reached it highest levels in 100 years, cresting in Fargo-Moorhead at 37.61 feet. In Grand Forks Ð East Grand Forks, the Red crested at 54.1 feet on April 18th, breaking through the dikes and forcing the evacuation of more than 61- thousand 500 residents from those communities. The damage totaled more than 4 billion dollars.

According to an engineer with the State Water Commission's West Fargo office, flooding occurs frequently along tributaries and the mainstream of the Red River. Most flooding occurs during spring runoff, although devastating summer floods, mostly recently in 1975 and 1993, have also occurred. Depending on when it happens, flooding can cause delays in spring planting, crop loss and erosion. Overtopping, or washing out of roads, can disrupt traffic. Homes, buildings and other structures in rural and urban areas can also be damaged and destroyed.

The cause of flooding has come, in part, at the hands of humans. The Red River Valley is one of the most intensively ditched and drained basins in the world. As a result, more water runs off into the river, arriving faster and intensifying flooding. Geologically, flooding occurs because there has not been enough time for erosion to wear a well-established river channel in the soil. The Red's surrounding topography is like a table topping the plain of the ancient Lake Agassiz, formed from the meltwaters of the glaciers that disappeared just 9,500 years ago.

Because of the Valley's topography, there is little residents can do to escape rising waters besides move. However, some projects although environmentally controversial, have prevented measurable damage.

Many of the valley's flood control projects involve dams. There are at least 188 man-made dams within the Red River watershed in North Dakota. Many of these are multi-purpose dams for water supply, water quality, recreation, wildlife and flood control.

Dams are helpful in controlling floods, but not cure-alls. People who choose to live in the Red River Valley must face the unending whims of nature in exchange for the North Dakota way of life.