Wahpeton City

Wahpeton, a city in Richland County, North Dakota is a city that was founded in 1871. The name Wahpeton came about in 1871 when the people decided to name their city after the name of the local Dakota Indians, the Wakhpetonwan, which means "leaf dwellers".

In 1767 the first explorer to ever come to the area was Jonathan Carver. He mapped and explored the Northwest under the request of Major Robert Rogers. His mission was to find

a Northwest passage, an imaginary waterway to the Orient which Rogers thought existed. One of the first settlers in the area is Morgan T. Rich. He was the first one to plow the

fertile land of the area in 1869. When the other settlers arrived and formed their own community, they named the area "Richville" owing to the richness of its soil as well as

"Rich" being in the name of its founder.

Wahpeton's twin city is Breckenridge, Minnesota. The Bois de Sioux River and the Otter

Tail River join at Wahpeton and Breckenridge to form the Red River of the North. The

North Dakota State College of Science is located in Wahpeton. The local newspaper is the Wahpeton Daily News. Recreation is also important to the citizens of Wahpeton. The

area attracts outdoorsman and hunters, because it is located in the midst of the

Western flyway, which means that the Wahpeton area provides excellent migratory

waterfowl hunting.

In the spring and summer the Bois de Sioux Golf Course offers golfers the opportunity to literally hit their tee-shot "into the next state". It is the only golf course in the nation where

half the course is in one state and the other half in another. Near the golf course is Chahinkapa Park, which offers many opportunities for recreation. Here young people

will find all kinds of playground equipment and can see bears, buffalo and other zoo

animals. The park also has baseball, softball, and football facilities, miniature golf, tennis, and during the summer the large swimming pool is also open.
 

Today, Wahpeton is a bustling, growing city with 8,000 people working in farms and

business establishments. It is also the city with the most modern medical facility in the

area, the St. Francis Hospital. It is also to be the most industrialized city as well as being

the headquarters of many big manufacturing plants. The city has many recreational parks, zoos and programs that offer both enjoyment and education. Also located in Wahpeton is "Wahpper" the world's largest catfish.