post was established by Charles Baptiste Chaboillez of the Northwest Fur Company. The Hudson Bay and American Fur Companies were also in Pembina as the fur trading industry increased. The fur traders and voyageurs traveled on the eastern side of the Red. Alexander Henry the younger, who erected a fort for the North West Company in Pembina, is thought to be the first white man to test agriculture in the valley. Joe Rolette, who started a fur post for the American Fur Company in Pembina, and Norman W. Kittson (for whom the county is named),[3] were two early entrepreneurs who opened this area by developing the Red River Ox Cart trails and broadening the use of oxcarts. The need for oxcarts diminished as steamboats became the new mode for transporting furs and supplies. The steamboats were eventually replaced by the railroad. Pembina County was one of five large counties established by the Minnesota Territory legislature on October 27, 1849. It was not organized at that time. On March 9, 1878, the Minnesota Legislature renamed Pembina County Kittson County. On February 25, 1879, Kittson County was divided, creating Marshall County. The county seat, Hallock, was organized in 1880. Kittson County was further diminished in 1894 when Roseau County was partitioned off. Kittson County has retained its present boundaries since 1894.[4] St. Vincent, which is directly across the Red River from Pembina, was settled in 1857. With rumors of a railroad coming through, settlers moved there to stake their claims. Many of these early settlers were Métis, a mixture of native and naturalized North Americans. In 1878, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad line reached St. Vincent and opened the area to settlement. It extended through the western portion of the county, with Donaldson, Kennedy, Hallock, Northcote, Humboldt and St. Vincent established along the line. The eastern portion of the county was settled in the early 1900s. The Soo Line railroad was completed in 1904 and the communities of Karlstad, Halma, Bronson, Lancaster, Orleans and Noyes were established. Scandinavians, Ukrainians, Polish, Scottish, Irish, English, Germans, French Canadians and Métis all contributed to Kittson County's melting pot. Once home to over 10,000 residents, the county population declined below 5,000 in 2006.[5] 1.1 Historic sites Three sites in the county are listed in the National Register of Historic Places: the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, in Caribou Township; the burial mounds known as the "Lake