Alexander Griggs

Alexander Griggs (1838–1903) was an American steamboat captain and politician. He is acknowledged as the founder of the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and is called "The Father of Grand Forks." Griggs is also the namesake of Griggs County, North Dakota.

Early life Griggs was born on October 27, 1838, in Marietta, Ohio. As a child, Griggs and his family moved to Beetown, Wisconsin, and Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he began working on a steamboat.

Career He first traveled to the confluence of the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River (the site of present-day Grand Forks) in 1870 using flatboats to carry cargo downstream on the Red River of the North. During the fall of 1870, Griggs and his crew embarked on another such trip through the confluence area, but were stranded when their boat froze in the icy waters of the Red River one evening. The crew built a small cabin and lived there during the winter of 1870–1871.

Death Griggs died on January 26, 1903, in Wenatchee, Washington.