Red River Ox Cart Trail

More than 150 years ago, the famed Red River Ox Cart Trail forded the river here in Anoka. This Ford was a eliminated in 1852 with the construction of a dam on the Rum River. The crossing then moved down the river and carts crossed it by means of a ferry and later, a bridge. The trail began as two early traces - the East Plains Trail and the Woods Trail far to the north at Pembina and the Red River settlements. The trails joined at the mouth of the Sauk River near St. Cloud and wound southward, on east side of Mississippi River.