FARGO

seat (1873) of Cass county and the largest city of North Dakota, U.S., on the Red River of the North, opposite Moorhead, Minn. Founded in 1871 by the Northern Pacific Railway, it served as an outfitting post for settlers, with its rail, steamboat, and stagecoach facilities. It was named for William George Fargo (of Wells, Fargo & Company), a pioneer in the shipment of goods by express. The development of wheat growing in the area consolidated Fargo's role as a transportation, marketing, and distribution centre. North Dakota State University (established in Fargo as an agricultural college in 1890) is a noted centre of agricultural research. Local industries include the manufacture of farm implements, autos and accessories, and fertilizer. The meat-packing plants and stockyards in suburban West Fargo rank among the nation's largest. The city is also a regional financial and medical centre. The Cass County Historical Society Museum and the Forsberg House in Fargo have collections of pioneer relics. Bonanzaville, U.S.A., near West Fargo, is a reconstruction of the area's 19th-century farming boom. Inc. city, 1875. Pop. (1990) city, 74,111; Fargo-Moorhead MSA, 153,296.