DAKOTA DATEBOOK: Red River Flood of 1882

It’s springtime in the Red River Valley of the North, a time when nervous crowds congregate on the riverbank to stare anxiously at the dark and sullen river. The muddy water forms eddies and swirls that quickly disappear as the river laboriously carries away the runoff of the melting snow that had formed a glacial-like carpet across the valley floor.On April 21 1882, the people at Pemb...