[2] Otter Tail County comprises the Fergus Falls micropolitan statistical area.

The Dakota (Sioux) were being pushed from their home area by the Ojibwa (Chippewa) during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The pine and hardwood forests, transportation system, and markets were instrumental in the development of Fergus Falls into a lumber center.

Otter Tail City began as a waystation on a fur-trade route between Saint Paul and the Red River valley.

At that time, the principal languages spoken in the county were Norwegian, Swedish, German, and English.

The Fergus Falls Telephone Exchange Company organized on March 20, 1882, and was in a room at the First National Bank at the corner of Cascade and Lincoln.

The Redeye River flows southeast through the county's northeast section toward its confluence with the Leaf in Wadena.

The county terrain consists of rolling hills, heavily wooded through its center section, dotted with lakes and ponds, and carved with drainages and gullies.

[10] The highest points on the county terrain are at two different locations: Inspiration Peak, at 1,727 ft (526 m), and Pekan Peak (unofficial name) a summit northeast of the village of Urbank in Folden Township, Section 32, at 1,800 ft (550 m) above sea level.

[22] The only Democrats to win the county since Minnesota became a state in 1858 have been Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first election victory, and unsuccessful candidate William Jennings Bryan in 1896.

The areas where the movement was centered are quite desolate today, but in mid-1932 over 900 people were involved in one of the state's communist organizations at what was a historic low point for farmers.

The members of the communist party were very active in the New York Mills area of Newton, Leaf Lake, Blowers, Deer Creek and Paddock Townships.

They held meetings, recruited members, placed candidates on local and state tickets, and distributed propaganda.

They held dances in Heinola, Menahga, and Sebeka where the Soviet hammer and sickle was proudly displayed and ran a summer camp on East Leaf Lake.

[23] By the time Franklin Roosevelt implemented his New Deal programs in the county, the communist movement began to lose steam.

In addition, the Winter War in Europe between Finland and the U.S.S.R. soured many Finnish immigrants on communism (Finns had been a large proportion of the local communists).