Antoine Blanc Gingras

Antoine Blanc Gingras ( – September 26, 1877) sometimes called Frederick Gingras in some sources, was a Métis fur trader, Bison hunter, business tycoon, and politician who founded the settlement of Walhalla, North Dakota, previously known as St. Joseph in the Dakota Territory. Gingras was a foundational figure for the Métis located in the Red River Valley in western Minnesota and the southern Red River Colony. Gingras served a total of two terms in both the 3rd Minnesota Territorial Legislature and the 4th Minnesota Territorial Legislature in 1852 and 1853. Gingras was a business partner with fellow fur traders Pascal Breland, Norman Kittson, Joe Rolette, and Alexander Ramsey among others.

Early life Gingras was born in 1821 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, he was the son of a voyageur of the North West Company Antoine Cuthbert Gingras (1771–1840) and Marguerite Madeleine Trottier (1796–1879), a Métis woman. Gingras himself was of mixed Québécois and Ojibwe descent and spoke a combination of Ojibwe, French, Michif, and English. According to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Gingras received annuity payments as the descendant of an Ojibwe mother.

Métis people (French: mixed) are a multiracial people, typically mixed between French or Scottish fathers and Indigenous mothers of Métis, Ojibwe, Dakota, Cree, Menominee, Potawatomi, Meskwaki, Sauk, Ho-Chunk, Odawa, and Assiniboine ancestry, typically due to the practice of Marriage à la façon du pays during the North American fur trade.

Fur Trader and Businessman

Gringas established his own trading post in 1844 in Pembina, at the time part of the Minnesota Territory. In 1844, the Gingras family was one of four total fur trading families in St. Joseph. Gingras’s trading relations grew through the years. In 1863 alone Gingras and Pascal Breland made $15,000 off of fur trading in the region. Following the rebellion Louis Riel sought Gingras' protection in North Dakota and often lodged with his son Normand/ Norman. In 1873 Gingras helped to charter the city of Winnipeg, previously known as Fort Garry. Gingras scored a total of 25 goals, 26 assists, 51 points, 52 Penalty Minutes (PIM) in 37 games. Gingras later coached for both the Union Canadienne of St. Boniface, Winnipeg as well as at Université de Saint-Boniface. Tony Gingras is noted as being the first French Canadian to be listed on a Stanley Cup winning team. Likewise, Gingras County in North Dakota was named after Gingras in 1874, the name was later changed to Wells County, North Dakota just 10 years later. Each year the city of Walhalla, North Dakota honors Gingras by celebrating "Gingras Days" on July 5 and 6.