After years of warfare, the United States made treaties to extinguish the land claims of the Ojibwe and other Native American peoples. The United States acquired the territory from British Rupert's Land with the Treaty of 1818, but indigenous tribes dominated the area until the late 19th century. By the 1740s, French fur trappers relied on Les Grandes Fourches as an important trading post. Early French explorers, fur trappers, and traders called the area Les Grandes Fourches, meaning "The Grand Forks". Prior to settlement by Europeans, the area where the city developed, at the forks of the Red River and Red Lake River for thousands of years, had been an important meeting and trading point for Native Americans. The Alerus Center and Ralph Engelstad Arena host athletic and other events, while the Empire Arts Center and Chester Fritz Auditorium are the city's largest cultural venues. The city's University of North Dakota is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. Grand Forks is served by Grand Forks International Airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Initially dependent on local agriculture, the city's economy has since broadened to include a wide variety of industries, including higher education, defense, health care, manufacturing, food processing, and scientific research.
The city was named for its location at the fork of the Red River and the Red Lake River. The post office was established in 1870, and the town was incorporated on February 22, 1881. Originally called Les Grandes Fourches by French fur traders from Canada, who had long worked and lived in the region, steamboat captain Alexander Griggs platted a community after being forced to winter there. The Red River Flood of 1997 devastated the city. Located on the western banks of the north-flowing Red River of the North, in a flat region known as the Red River Valley, the city is prone to flooding. Grand Forks, along with its twin city of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, forms the center of the Grand Forks, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is often called Greater Grand Forks or the Grand Cities. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. Grand Forks is the 3rd most populous city in the U.S.
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