North America has two Red Rivers, North and South. Red River South has been home to many peoples; it once was the border between the US and colonial Spain, and today forms part of the border between the rival states of Texas and Oklahoma.

Red River North forms in a confluence of rivers in North Dakota and Minnesota, but its history is Canada’s. The Red River North’s early settlers were the Métis, whose ancestry was French and aboriginal Canadian. The Métis in 1869 began an uprising known as the Red River Rebellion, which challenged the Canadian government, eventually leading to the formation of the province of Manitoba.