Zack's Red River Carts
You won't find any carts as good as Zack's!
History of the Red River Cart
These carts were first known to arrive in 1801 at Fort Pembina, Which is located just south of the Canadian border. They were originally smaller horse drawn carts that had bigger axles and two massive wheels that had three-foot spokes, but they eventually became much larger and had to be pulled by oxen rather than horses. The wheels were shaped and big so they could cut through the prairie sod. Eventually they became a little bigger with four spokes so they could carry more than their original carry weight of 450-500 pounds. But the most interesting part is that the carts are entirely made out of wood!
Advantages of having a Red River Cart
- Red River carts could carry up to 900+ pounds if you would have gotten the refined version of the cart
- The ox carts could easily be made able to float with rawhide
- The carts were completely made of wood so they were easy to repair
- Very cheap since they weren't complete four wheeled carts
Contact Information for Zack's Red River Carts
Email: zacksredrivercarts@gmail.com
Website: www.zackscarts.com
Location: Bismarck, ND, United States
Phone: 701-987-6543
Facebook: facebook.com/ZacksCarts
Disadvantages of these carts
- Very loud since they were completely wood and were not oiled and greased
- Easily broken since they only had wood and no metal at all
- Red River cats are slow moving, not speedy
- These ox carts are mainly built for straight line moving rather than harsh maneuverability
The first inventors of the carts
The first inventors of the cart were the French and the Scottish, they first created the cart that carried around 450-500 pounds. Then eventually people created the carts to be much stronger and to be pulled by oxen instead of horse to carry loads as much as 900+ pounds. These carts were a massive factor of being cheap, but subtle enough to be a perfect form of transportation for the people on the plains.
How these carts impacted North Dakota
The Red River Carts impacted North Dakota massively because they were cheap enough for a lot of people to be able to afford them, and because they were just a simple well designed cart rather than a full blown carriage they were very inexpensive. They were completely made of wood and that meant that if a part of the cart broke it could easily be repaired. They were very ideal and could be turned into a raft with simple rawhide stretched over them, they impacted North Dakota greatly.
the Importance of these carts to North Dakota
These carts were very important to North Dakota because they made the traffic of trade rise massively, and anyone in that business usually got a cart since they were an inexpensive way to transport their goods, business was increased when these carts were invented. They were important to traders from all over because they could easily be turned into a raft to transport over a stream or a small body of water. These carts were an important invention to North Dakota and to a lot of other places.
Red River Carts