Steamboats on the Red River: Moorhead Landing

The Manitoba and the Minnesota were the first steamboats boats to be built in Moorhead. The Northwest was also built there and was the largest boat on the river at 200 feet long. Other steamboats on the river at this time included the Pance, the City of Moorhead, and the Omega. One source states that in 1874, Moorhead was the base for seven steamboats and twenty barges.

The two photographs to the right show the Moorhead landing in 1879 (top) and 1882 (bottom).

The photograph to the upper left shows a government barge dredging the landing. In it, one see the view much as did the artist in the drawing above.

The photograph to the lower left pictures the steamboats Alsop and Pluck at the Moorhead Landing.

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Fargo, North Dakota

Moorhead Steamboat Landing

The image to the upper right is a hand colored woodcut published in Harper's Weekly on August 27, 1881. It is entitled Fargo: Dakota--Head of Steamboat Navigation on the Red River (drawn by W.A. Rogers).

Despite the title, the steamboat landing was in Moorhead, although considerable steamboat activity occurred on both sides of the river.