A Short History About The City Of Wahpeton

By Harold Meyer


Located somewhere in the North Dakota region of the United States of America lies a city in the Richland County along the Bois de Sioux River and the Otto Tail River. This city is known as Wahpeton and happens to date back to even the 1700s when the first European settler came to the land and decided to explore it. Here is a brief history of this city and how it became a very populous city that is found in the United States.

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 Civil War, the small city was commissioned by the United States Government to be developed. This project was spearheaded by JW Blanding, who was the first person to discover that the Dakota land was fertile and good for growing crops. He and is family then decided to migrate over to Dakota and have a home in that land.

While there were many developments being made to the land by the government in Dakota, it was only in 1869 when the town had an actual community inside. The first settler was actually Morgan Rich in which he attracted other settlers who decided to make a community named Richville in his honor.

In 1871, the community changed the name of Richville to Chahinkapa which happens to mean end of the woods because it was near some forest areas around the area. From there, the small community evolved into Chahinkapa county. It was from this time that the county further developed and expanded with the many people contributing to its improvement as a county.

Further down the road, the county was renamed again to Richland County and then to the name it has today. The name actually came from the tribe name of local Dakota Indians which is Wakhpetonwan which actually means leaf dwellers. The local Indians lived near Lake Mille Lacs and were some of the very first residents in the area until settlers came.

In 1872, development of the county sped up with a set of new railroads built to cater to travelers. Because of this railroad, the local economy grew as many freight deliveries and travelers came into the county. Aside from visitors, the railroads made it much easier for even the immigrants to move in and occupy the village, resulting in more settlers.

Currently, the city is home to a lot of manufacturing businesses with plants and factories. In fact, the residents even voted to give one and a half percent of taxes to the overall development of the city and its improvement. Due to the sincere actions of the government, a lot of people have been coming to the city and even moving there to enjoy the nice lifestyle.




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