Pembina () is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 512 at the 2020 census. Pembina is south of the Canada–US border. Interstate 29 passes on the western side of Pembina, leading north to the Canada–US border at Emerson, Manitoba, and south to the cities of Grand Forks and Fargo. The Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing is the second busiest along the Canada–United States border west of the Great Lakes. It is one of three 24-hour ports of entry in North Dakota, the others being Portal and Dunseith. The Noyes–Emerson East Border Crossing, to the east on the Minnesota side of the Red River, also processed cross-border traffic until its closure in 2006.
The area of Pembina was long inhabited by various Indigenous peoples. At the time of 16th century French exploration and fur trading, historical Native American tribes included the Lakota (Sioux, as the French called them), the Chippewa (Ojibwe), and the Assiniboine. The British/Canadian Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) established a fur-trading post on the site of present-day Pembina in 1797, and it is the oldest European-American community in the Dakotas. The first permanent HBC-sponsored settlement in Pembina started in 1812. Pembina was officially founded in 1843. In 1851, the US established its first post office in present-day North Dakota in Pembina. Pembina was the most populous place in North Dakota according to the 1860 census. Pembina served as county seat from 1867 to 1911, being designated as a town in 1885. Nineteenth-century journal-writers and observers translated the word as "summer berry" or "high cranberry". All parts were used for clothing, tepees, etc. Their regular trade routes became known as the Red River Trails. This area was part of the United States' Dakota and Minnesota territories; and Canada–US border politics.
Fort Pembina trading posts
- Peter Grant of the North West Company, between 1784 and 1789, built a post on the east side of the Red River. It had disappeared by 1801.
- In 1797, Jean Baptiste Chaboillez of the North West Company built a post on the south bank of the Pembina in what is now Pembina State Park.
- From 1800 to 1805, the XY Company had a post within sight of the two following posts. It was absorbed by the North West Company.
- In 1801, Alexander Henry the younger, also of the North West Company, built a post on the north bank across from Chaboillez's post. He remained in charge until 1808. It was absorbed by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821.
- By 1793, the Hudson's Bay Company had a small post (seemingly called Fort Skene) on the east side on the Red River. It was rebuilt in 1801. By 1805, most of the local beaver had been exterminated. Pembina was the traditional rendezvous for the Métis buffalo hunt.
- In September 1872, a joint Canadian and American boundary survey commission met in Pembina where they over-wintered before setting off in the spring of 1873 to survey and mark the Canada-U.S. border along the 49th parallel.
thumb|left|200px|Preparing Red River ox cart at Pembina, North Dakota, for trip to [[St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota]]
Fort Pembina
thumb|right|Fort Pembina and [[Red River ox carts, c. 1870]]
Due to the unrest among Native Americans of the Red River Valley after the American Civil War, the Minnesota Legislature petitioned Congress to build a fort, especially to defend against incursions by the Lakota (Sioux), some of whom had migrated to Rupert's Land to evade the US Army.
As a result, Major General Winfield Scott Hancock recommended the establishment of the post on December 8, 1869; Fort Pembina was completed on July 8, 1870. Located south of the settlement, it was just above the mouth of the Pembina River. It was originally called Fort Thomas, for Major General George Henry Thomas, who died on March 28, 1870. The post was designated as Fort Pembina on September 6, 1870. Seriously damaged by fire on May 27, 1895, it was abandoned on August 16, 1895. It was later sold at public auction.
Métis in Pembina
The Métis had a very strong connection with Pembina during the 19th century. Individual and groups of bison hunters and goods traders were based in Pembina. In 1818, with the help of Father Dumoulin, the Roman Catholic Church created a mission in Pembina with the goal of converting buffalo hunters and other Native Americans to Catholicism. The records show a clear engagement among the Métis with Catholicism; Father Dumoulin baptised 394 people before the closure of the mission in 1823, and Assomption Catholic Church recorded 166 burials between 1848 and 1892 (with 147 being either French or English/Scottish Métis.)
Recent history
thumb|A hardware store in Pembina, North Dakota.
In 1962, Winnipeg based coach bus manufacturer Motor Coach Industries opened its U.S. assembly line in Pembina.
Pembina was officially designated as a city in 1967. but reversed their decision in November 2023.
Geography
Pembina is in the far northeastern corner of the North Dakota, at the confluence of the Red River of the North and the Pembina River. The city of St. Vincent, Minnesota, lies adjacent to the east, across the Red River. The town of Emerson, Manitoba, lies just north of the city on the other side of the international border.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Pembina experiences a dry winter humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb).