Item No. 9753917

This rare CDV features a Métis trader leading a group of Red River carts down a street in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Métis of the Red River Colony (current-day Manitoba) used carts made entirely of wood parts to transport goods—mainly furs—between Winnipeg and St. Paul through the early part of the nineteenth century. In the CDV, four ox-led carts fill the street before druggist J. N. Schroeder’s storefront, where two other men observe the procession. Using a derogatory term to describe the Métis, who are a people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry, the image’s caption reads, “Red River Half-Breeds and Carts. / (Upton’s Series of Minnesota Views) No. / For best views, go to Martin’s Art Gallery, 264 Third-st., St. Paul.” Pencil notations on verso. Measures 2 1/2” x 4”.