Joe Rolette

Joseph Rolette, Jr. (23 October 1820 – 16 May 1871) was an American fur trader and politician during Minnesota's territorial era and the Civil War.

As part of the settlement, Rolette Sr. built what is today known as the Brisbois House for his estranged wife on Water Street, St. Feriole Island, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

As his sense of adventure developed, Joe Jr. headed back west in 1840, and by the time he was 21, he was working for his father's partners' in the Red River valley area of Minnesota.

Some names in Minnesota history (Henry Hastings Sibley and Ramsey Crooks) were running a fur trading company in the area at the time.

He created a line of carts that ran on the Red River Trails between Pembina and the head of Mississippi navigation at Mendota, Minnesota.

Kittson adopted the system of Red River ox carts, growing and adding more lines until it became a chain of several thousands of vehicles.