Wahpeton

Town and administrative headquarters of Richland County, southeast North Dakota; population (1990) 8,800. It is situated on the Minnesota state border, where the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers join the Red River of the North, 64 km/40 mi south-southeast of Fargo. Founded in 1869, it has printing and dairy plants and flour mills, and is a processing and marketing centre for cattle, poultry, and grain. Its manufactures include pottery and sheet iron. It is home to the North Dakota State College of Science (1889) and the Wahpeton Indian School, which serves Chippewa and Sioux from Minnesota and the Dakotas.