RED RIVER OF THE NORTH, a stream which has its source among the lakes in the west central part of Minnesota. It first flows south and southwest, then west to the boundary between Minnesota and North Da kota, where it turns north and forms the bound ary between the States mentioned. It enters Canada in the province of Manitoba and flows into Lake Winnipeg. Its source is about 1,600 feet above sea-level and its mouth 710 feet. It is nearly 700 miles long, the greater part of its cot.rse is in the United States. Its drainage area is about 43,500 square miles, three-fourths of which is in the United States. It is navigable almost to the source. The river and its tribu taries have in many parts of the plain cut channels through the clay from 20 to 30 feet deep. The Red River is connected with the Mississippi through its southern branch, Lake Traverse, and the Minnesota River. At high water small steamers can pass from the Red River to the Mississippi. It is connected with Hudson Bay by means of Lake Winnipeg. A
number of small rivers enter the Red River from Minnesota and North Dakota. The larg est tributaries from North Dakota are Cheyenne and Pembina. The latter river has its nse in Manitoba. The chief tributary it receives in Manitoba is Assiniboine.
The Red River flows through a productive agricultural region, famous for the quantity and quality of its wheat. The greater part of the basin of this river has been twice submerged beneath the sea, and it was covered with an extensive glacial drift which left an immense lake, now called Lake Agassiz (q.v.), that had an outlet to the Mississippi River. The beaches are still well defined, even those showing the gradual contraction of the lake. The lakes of Manitoba are the remains of this vast lake. The deposits made by means of ice and water have made the Red River Valley an exceedingly fertile region.