On this date in 1919 the Hope Pioneer announced that the Equity Packing Plant had begun operations in West Fargo. John Haggart was the driving force behind the cooperative. He was born in 1846 in New York State where his father owned a farm. After serving in the Army, Haggart relocated to Dakota Territory and made one of the first land claims in the Red River Valley. He was a prosperous wheat farmer, and the area was first named Haggart, but is now known as West Fargo.