History of Saint Paul

[1.] We entered a strange wilderness

[2.] We camped among Indian Nations

[3.] We trapped the land’s abundance

[4.] We labored with the Earth

[5.] We bridged great distances

[6.] Now we remember the wilderness

[Chapel] In 1841, Father Lucien Galtier traveled to our city, which was little more than a landing called Pig’s Eye. He built a chapel here and called it Saint Paul. Thus our city was formed and named.

“St. Paul is a wonderful city.
It is put together in solid blocks
of honest brick and stone and
has the air of intending to stay.
Mark Twain,
Life on the Mississippi (1883)

[Axe]
In October, 1841, eight men gathered here with their axes to build our city’s first chapel: Pierre & Charles Bottineau, two men named Pierre Gervais, Vital Guerin, Isaac & Joseph Labissonniere and Francois Morin.

[Belfry & Bell]
After the bell from the sunken steamboat Argo was salvaged in 1847, the Honorable Henry M. Rice presented it to Father Augustine Ravoux, who had it placed here in a belfry beside the chapel.

[Paddlewheel]
“The opening of navigation was hailed with delight and the first steamboat that touched the levee each spring was welcomed by almost the entire population.”
The Minnesota Democrat, 1 November 1854

[Terra Cotta panels along riverfront wall, in no particular order]