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The 'Red River' (French: ''rivière Rouge'') is a Central North American river. Formed by the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing on into Manitoba, Canada. The Red River flows through several major urban areas along its path including Fargo-Moorhead and Greater Grand Forks in the United States and Winnipeg in Canada. The Red is about 880 km long, falling 70 m on its trip to Lake Winnipeg where it spreads into the vast deltaic wetland known as Netley Marsh. In the United States, the Red River is sometimes called the 'Red River of the North' which helps to distinguish it from the other Red River which is a tributary of the Mississippi River that forms part of the border between Texas and Oklahoma). In Canada, the Red has been designated as a Canadian Heritage River.

Contents

Geography

History

1997 flood

See also

Notes

External links

Geography

Along its course, the Red River flows across the flat, fertile flood plain of the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz. The Red River forms at Wahpeton, North Dakota and Breckenridge, Minnesota, passes through Fargo, North Dakota/Moorhead, Minnesota and Grand Forks, North Dakota/East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and then continues on to the province of Manitoba in Canada. Manitoba's capital — Winnipeg — is at the Red's confluence with the Assiniboine River. The Red then flows further north before draining into Lake Winnipeg which is part of the Hudson Bay watershed.

History

Originally part of Rupert's Land, the Red was a key river in the early settlement of Canada, a centre of the fur trade and the Métis people, and the site of the Red River Colony — the primary city of which eventually became Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1997 flood

In April 1997, the Red River rapidly swelled and eventually caused widespread flooding. Damages to the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota totaled $2 billion (USD) and resulted in the largest civilian evacuation in the United States since the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War.^[1] Winnipeg, Manitoba suffered $500 million (CAD) in damage. In Winnipeg, the Red River Floodway diverted most of the floodwaters around the city. Other major floods occurred in 1826 and 1950. In April 2006, another large flood caused the Gretna, Manitoba border crossing to close as the water levels rose considerably.

See also

★ Red River Valley

★ Red River Floodway

★ Red River Settlement

Notes

1. Information about 1997 evacutaion of Grand Forks - Knight Foundation

External links

★ Canadian Council for Geographic Education page with a series of articles on the history of the Red River.

★ Geological Survey of Canada page describing the nature and history of Red River floods.