ANTOINE GINGRAS (1821-1877)
                                     Fur Trader Honored Annually in Northeastern North Dakota

Every year Walhalla celebrates "Gingras Day!".  It is held in celebration of Antoine Gingras, an area entrepreneur who died in 1877. When Dakota Territory was created in 1861, Gingras was considered the richest man in the territory. He made most of his fortune by transporting animal hides, mostly buffalo, from what is now northeast North Dakota to St. Paul, a distance of 600 miles. He also had stores in Pembina, St. Joseph (now Walhalla), and Fort Garry (now Winnipeg), as well as a trading post near the Souris River. Gingras served in the Minnesota Territorial legislature in 1852 and 1853, participated in the 1869 rebellion led by Louis Riel against Canada, and had a county in Dakota Territory named after him.