The history of Pelican Rapids revolves around the Pelican River. In 1868, Asa Jacobs and Robert Scambler while working to locate and establish trading posts for the British Northwest Trading Company, discovered rapids along the river. Knowing they could be harnessed for water power, the two sent word to St. Cloud and St. Paul that the Pelican Valley was a perfect location for settlement.

Canadian born Harrison Harris built the first home while New York native William Tuttle arrived with his wife, three young sons and a baby grand piano. Tuttle set about building a stone, log and dirt dam with dreams of Pelican Rapids becoming a thriving flour milling center. Although the dam washed out two times, he picked up the pieces and rebuilt them.

As William Tuttle tried to tame the river, his life changed forever when the doorsteps of Pelican Rapids were darkened by the arrival of the notorious swindler Lord Gordon Gordon. Making extravagant claims of wealth, Gordon Gordon promised to invest in and turn Pelican Rapids into a great city. He persuaded Tuttle to deed him sizable tracts of land. What Tuttle did not realize was that Gordon Gordon had fleeced investors across the nation including railroad magnate Jay Gould. Tuttle lost everything. He was so devastated financially and emotionally that he returned with his family to New York where he died in an insane asylum.

As for Gordon Gordon, he fled until he was cornered near Winnipeg. Instead of being captured he put a pistol ball through his head.