The Saint Cloud and Red River Valley Stage Road–Kandota Section is a preserved fragment of a

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

road in Kandota Township, Minnesota, United States. It was part of a long route established in 1859 that ran from

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

, to the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

on the border of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. The road fragment was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991 for having state-level significance in the theme of transportation. It was nominated for being a remnant of one of Minnesota's most important stagecoach roads, and a reminder of the stagecoach companies' founding role in establishing the state's overland travel routes.

Description

The Kandota Section begins at a westward bend of Todd County Highway 92 and runs northwest for , where all traces of it are lost in an agricultural field. The first descend a slight incline through a wooded area and have small ditches on either side of the track. The rest of the distance is level and shows no evidence of ditches.

History

The Saint Cloud and Red River Valley Stage Road was prompted by an 1857 international agreement that the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

could supply its Red River outposts from

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

. The Northwestern Express and Transportation Company acquired the contract to carry the supplies and—following a merger and name change to the

Minnesota Stage Company The Minnesota Stage Company was the largest stagecoach company based in Minnesota, United States. It was established in 1859 in a merger of J.C. Burbank & Company and Chase & Allen, at which point it controlled all the major stagecoach lines in th ...

—mail between St. Cloud and

Fort Abercrombie Fort Abercrombie, in North Dakota, was an American fort established by authority of an act of Congress, March 3, 1857. The act allocated twenty-five square miles of land on the Red River of the North in Dakota Territory to be used for a military ...

. One of the stagecoach company's partners, Russell Blakely, led the road-blazing crew. They began in June 1859, felling trees and building bridges, and the first stagecoach was able to traverse the route on July 4. The road was the first to carry regular stagecoach traffic from the settlements of Central Minnesota to the Red River Valley, and functioned in concert with the establishment of

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

service on the Red River of the North. The road also spurred the development of west-central Minnesota, as towns were founded along its route. The Saint Cloud and Red River Valley Stage Road did so well that in 1863 the stage company had to advertise for more drivers and teams. By 1871, though, the first rail line was completed to the Red River Valley and road traffic diminished. Portions of the stage route were incorporated into the road network and modernized, but the Kandota fragment was abandoned in 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Cloud And Red River Valley Stage Road-Kandota Section 1859 establishments in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Todd County, Minnesota Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Todd County, Minnesota Transport infrastructure completed in 1859 Transportation in Todd County, Minnesota

Description

History

See also

References