By the 1840s, as a result of the growing trade in buffalo hides, in the southern prairie region land transport in the form of the ox-drawn Red River cart began to supersede water transport. The Red River cart was a unique western Canadian conveyance, adapted to the needs of the environment. Light, but strong, it could carry up to a ton and it was easily repaired, being built entirely of wood. If a stream had to be forded, the cart was quickly converted to a raft, the high, spoked wheels being strapped underneath. Because of the prairie dust, the axles were not greased which caused a moving cart to emit an ear-splitting screech. It was said that a cart brigade could be heard miles away. Some of the most important cart trails ran south from the Red River Settlement to St. Paul, Minnesota. This very early photograph of 1858 shows a group of MÄtis carters camped on the trail to St. Paul.
