Location:
-Located in the Crookston cemetery.
Special notes:
-The cache is a large, green ammo
container.
-Please park outside of the gates on the
street, then hike in from there.
General info:
Permanent settlement of the Crookston area began in June of
1871, mostly along the Red River. These early settlers were
predominately of Scandinavian, Irish and Scottish descent. Since
the land was not surveyed, squatters made their boundaries and
raised stock on the rich prairie hay. Ox teams were used for
transportation and the settlers farmed on a small scale for their
own needs because of the lack of markets.
The present site of Crookston, on the Red Lake River, wasn't
settled until 1872. At the time, the St. Paul and Pacific Railway
terminated at Glyndon; when they announced the extension of their
line to St. Vincent, they placed the crossing of the Red Lake River
where Crookston now stands.
Crookston was named after Colonel Williams Crooks, a pioneer
railroad man who brought the first steam locomotive into Minnesota.
In 1873, Crookston was named the county seat of Polk County. It
wasn't until 1879 that the town was incorporated.
In 1873 all railroad construction stopped because of the Panic
of 1872. Many of the Crookston citizens were railroad workers and
because of the big blow to the railroad, they had to find a new way
of life. Red River steamboats, operated by James J. Hill and
Kittson, ran up the Red Lake River to Crookston in 1874 and 1875.
These steamboats were loaded with freight that had come by rail
from St. Paul and carried up the Red River of the North from Grand
Forks to Winnipeg. Crookston soon became the head of navigation due
to the favorable water conditions found here. During this time,
more than 1000 tons of freight were hauled out of the office and
depot that consisted of a box car.
Hill and Kittson built the railroad to Fisher's Landing in 1875
and Fisher became the terminus of steamboat transportation. This
move of steamboat transportation ended Crookston's history as a
river port.
