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Gingras Trading Post - History

Antoine Gingras

The Life of Antoine Gingras (1821-1877)

The life of fur trader Antoine Blanc Gingras encapsulates the fur trade era of the Red River in the Pembina region of North Dakota. Son of a French Canadian voyageur father and Metis mother, Gingras began as a hunter, then became an independent fur trader.  His contemporaries described him as a shrewd businessman. In 1844 he established his first fur trading post at Pembina, and by the time he died in 1877, he was a wealthy entrepreneur, with a chain of trading posts in North Dakota and Manitoba. His business connections extended from Fort Garry (Winnipeg) to St. Paul, Minnesota.

1859 view of St. Joseph (now called Walhalla, North Dakota).
In 1844, the Gingras family was one of four fur trading families in St. Joseph. The fur trade dwelling-store was begun that year, and a separate dwelling was constructed soon afterwards.

St. Joseph was the ideal location for Gingras’s business. He served as a middle man for Metis buffalo hunters who produced buffalo robes and pemmican which they traded for manufactured goods, tobacco, liquor and grocery staples. Gingras acquired these items at St. Paul or Mendota, Minnesota. The robes were shipped east, and the pemmican was traded to Hudson’s Bay and other fur trade companies for consumption by their employees.

Though he was a free trader, Gingras also worked under contract for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Twice he lost his trading license due to smuggling.  After the 1849 Sayer trail which established free trade relations between Canada and the United States, Gingras traded directly at Fort Garry.  By 1860, he and his son François Gingras had established a trading post near Fort Garry.

By 1851, Gingras was very influential in St. Joseph and Pembina. He was elected to represent the region in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature, along with his business associates Joseph Rolette Junior and Norman W. Kittson. They traveled to St. Paul by snowshoe and dogsled for the winter sessions of 1852 and 1853.

Hours:
May 16 through September 15, 10 am - 5 pm daily (CDT)

Contact Us:
(701) 549-2775
shspembina@nd.gov
10534 129th Ave NE
Walhalla, ND 58282