The steamboat Anson Northup begins working on the Red River. In an effort to cash in on the lucrative Red River valley trade, and to improve connections with Fort Garry (later Winnipeg), St. Paul businessmen had offered a $2,000 prize to the first boat to deliver a cargo to Fort Garry. Starting in January, Anson Northup had traveled with his Mississippi steamer North Star up the Crow Wing River as far as possible. Then he disassembled the ninety-by-twenty-four-foot boat and began the overland trip with sixty-four horses and a crew of sixty men. Losing their way near Detroit Lakes, they were found by a rescue party from Georgetown and led to Lafayette on the Red River. Northup's new boat, renamed for him, set out on June 6 and reached Fort Garry on June 10. Subsequently sold and renamed the Pioneer, it remained in service until 1861.