On the Edge of Empire: Episode 2 | Black Histories of the Northern Plains

Learn about the first Black people who came to the Northern Plains. Students hear the story of the fur trading African American family, the Bongas, who became fur traders in Duluth and eventually moved to what is now known as Pembina, North Dakota. Students also study a man named York, enslaved by William Clark. The film explores York’s role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the contradictory information historians have about his ultimate fate.