This designation was quickly withdrawn when the Ojibwe, who had been contesting the Dakota Sioux for hunting rights in the vicinity over many decades, refused to grant permission for a ferry or a town in their territory.

A large contingent of Ojibwe chiefs and their family members were encamped at Grand Forks several miles below Old Crossing, when hostilities of the Dakota War of 1862 spread to the Red River Valley.

The Ojibwe remained calm while panic swept through the nearby white settlements and outlying farms and trading posts, but the United States treaty negotiators fled to safety at Fort Abercrombie.

After the land was opened to non-native settlement in the early 1870s, a Métis contemporary of Joe Rolette, Pierre Bottineau, promoted immigration to the Red Lake River area by French-Canadian settlers.

[2] As the neighborhood was homesteaded by other farmers, the village grew to include a Catholic church, a school, general store, a creamery (which later became the town hall) and a post office, as well as several houses.

At about the same time, an additional 100 acres (0.4 km2) on the north side of the river, which included portions of the old Pembina Trail, was acquired by citizens of Polk and Red Lake counties.

Today the park includes picnicking facilities, seasonal historical exhibits, a boat landing and the monument to the Ojibwe treaties and Red River cart trails.