This is taken from Souvenir Book, St. Paul Police Benevolent Association, 1919, a 1919 publication.

On the Mississippi In 1838

Pig’s Eye is carved from the wilderness. Embryo Metropolis gets away to a flying start.

It is an old saying that “Current events cast their shadows before,” and on that April day nearly two and a half centuries ago when Father Hennepin, Franciscan priest, stood upon the river landing spot which is now St. Paul, he cast his shadow upon the fertile soil which was to produce a great city — a coming event never dreamed of by the intrepid little band whose pilgrimage was but the forerunner of a steady migration into the great Northwest.

Father Hennepin and his little band pushed along, and left behind them a wilderness where the howl of the wolf and the war cry of Indians was all that disturbed the forests’ quiet for many moons, and then started the development which has replaced the old night sounds and substituted the toot of the auto horn and the shriek of the locomotive whistle.

The population of St. Paul consisted of one in 1838. This one was known as “Pigs Eye” Parrant, a Canadian voyageur who made a living from the sale of “firewater” to the Indians, and to the soldiers billeted at Fort Snelling, which in those days was an Indian trading post, and a frontier settlement.

Parrant had formerly located on the west side of the Mississippi, near the fort, but had been driven away by the authorities because of the trouble his business created. It is interesting to know that the term “blind pig” originated right in St. Paul. Parrant was blind in one eye, and the other was a small, squinting, optic, looking for all the world like the eye of a pig. Thus the nickname “Pig’s Eye” and eventually the description of an unlicensed drinking place as a “blind pig.”

Fort Snelling and all territory west of the Mississippi at that time was included in the territory of Iowa, so when Parrant received his marching orders he crossed the river and located himself on the banks of the Mississippi close to the present location of the City and County Hospital. Everything on the east bank of the Mississippi being included in the territory of Wisconsin, Parrant was safe from molestation for a while.

His cabin was at the mouth of the creek which then emptied into Fountain Cave, and although later his cabin was searched several times very little “firewater” was discovered there — it being understood that he had it buried in the cave. Thus was St. Paul founded — the first settler making it his abode because it was a convenient spot in which to sell whiskey and remain outside the pale of law.

Other settlers soon followed Parrant to the east side of the river, these being for the most part French-Swiss colonists from the Red River valley who had taken refuge at Fort Snelling. They took up the pursuit of agriculture, not mixing much with their neighbor, Pierre Parrant, who had built the first log cabin, and also given the settlement such a black reputation that it was known as “Pig’s Eye” for several years after Parrant left.

The first semblance of law and authority came to Pig’s Eye late in the same year — 1838 — when Governor Dodge of Wisconsin appointed Joseph R. Brown a justice of the peace for Crawford county, which embraced this district. Brown’s headquarters were on Grey Cloud Island, about twelve miles down the river, where he maintained a small trading post. His name is mentioned very little in early St. Paul history, however, so it is understood that he took very little part in law enforcement — that he chose to devote his time to his business down the river.

At that time justices of the peace, or “Squires” as they were called, worked on a very low fee basis, and the office was not a very paying one. The Wisconsin Territory laws allowed the following fees to Squires in their cases:

Issuing a warrant	$.25
Taking a recognizance	.25
Jail commitment	.25
Issuing search warrant	.37½
Entering judgment	.25
Discharging prisoner	.12½
Warrant for punishment	.18¾
Order of discharge	.25
Administering oath	.25

Henry H. Sibley was the first civil officer for the territory west of the Mississippi, and although his appointment came from the State of Iowa, and his jurisdiction was only that included in the boundaries of that territory, which at the time stretched to the Missouri river, he arbitrarily functioned on the east side of the river where he thought circumstances warranted an arrest.

He was a partner in the “American Fur Company,” which ran the trading post at Fort Snelling, and which established the morals, laws, and customs for all the people, both Indian and white, residing in the district.

The first murder of record in the Northwest was that of John Hays, a partner of Edward Phelan, who was a discharged soldier from the fort. Phelan had settled in “Pig’s Eye” and started a little opposition to Parrant, who later packed up and left, dying soon afterward.

John Hays’ body was found at the entrance to Carver’s cave by a friendly Indian. Suspicion pointing to Phelan. Sibley sent over after him, and caused his incarceration at the Fort. Although acting as a civil officer of the County of Clayton, Territory of Iowa, Sibley committed Phelan to answer to the charge of murder at Prairie du Chien, the county seat of Crawford county, Territory of Wisconsin. There is no record of the action in the case, but it is known that after being imprisoned at Fort Crawford for some time, Phelan reappeared on the streets of “Pig’s Eye.”

But Pig’s Eye was no more after May 6th, 1840. Major Plympton at the fort made the discovery that the Pig’s Eye settlers were in reality squatters on a portion of the reservation belonging to the Fort, and they were ordered off their little homesteads. The settlers refused to go, and Secretary Poinsett of the war department issued orders to the military to drive them off and to burn down their log cabins. And on May 6th, 1840 this was done.

There were, among the settlers, many bona-fide home seekers and these moved down the river a short distance to a point outside the limits of the reservation, and built new cabins for themselves and their families. And in 1841 Father Lucien Galtier of the Diocese of buque erected a little church of tamarack poles in the midst of the cabins. The church stood on what is now second street, between Cedar and Minnesota. Father Galtier blessed the little chapel and dedicated it to the memory of St. Paul, asking the settlers to call their little village “St. Paul.” And from the little acorn a mighty oak has grown.

In 1842 Henry S. Jackson came to St. Paul, and within a year was appointed the first justice of the peace of the village of St. Paul. He built himself a log cabin on ground that is now bounded by Jackson and Robert, Second and Third streets. He purchased a stock of merchandise, and opened up a general store and saloon. An interesting story is told about Squire Jackson. Just a few days before he received his commission as a justice of the peace a young couple came to him to be married. Not having the authority to perform the ceremony he gave them permission to start keeping house provided that they would return as soon as his commission arrived, and be regularly and legally married. Such was the ministration of law in those days.

In May of 1848 Wisconsin was admitted to the Union as a State, and the portion of land between the St. Croix and the Mississippi rivers was cast aside, leaving the embryo of Minnesota without law or authority for a year, at which time Congress provided for a government. During this year there was not a single crime of any magnitude committed, showing that the settlers were a clean living crowd that loved peace and order.

On March 3, 1849, Minnesota became a territory, and all land was sold at auction. The settlers of St. Paul got Mr. Sibley to represent them at the government sale, and to bid in their homes for them. They all appeared at the sale armed with clubs to repress any spirited bidding, and needless to say, Sibley had no difficulty in bidding in their lands for the settlers. At this time there were thirty families living in St. Paul, but by July the village had jumped to a population of eight hundred and forty people.

Alexander Ramsey was appointed territorial Governor by President Taylor, and he established his headquarters at St. Paul, which had been designated as the capital of the Territory of Minnesota. His aides were Aaron Goodrich, chief Justice, and Alexander Mitchell, Marshall, both of whom settled in St. Paul with their families. Across the river, where now the west side basks, was located a big Indian settlement.

The Territorial Legislature met on the third day of November, 1849, and was in session for sixty days. Among the bills passed was one creating nine counties, one of them being Ramsey County in honor of Governor Ramsey. St. Paul was designated as the county seat. Another bill enacted incorporated the “Town of St. Paul.”

The first term of court was held April 8, 1850, Justice Goodrich presiding. The first term of court also marked the first session of the grand jury, thirteen indictments, or true bills, being returned. Most of these were for gambling.

And on May 6th, under the provisions of the town charter, the first town election was held, or as it was styled, “an election of house-holders of the town.” Doctor Thomas Potts was elected president of the Council, and the rest of the “ticket” elected included for Recorder, Edmund Rice; Trustees, W. H. Forbes, B. F Hoyt, Wm. H. Randall, Henry Jackson, and A. L. Larpenteur.

The “council” at its first meeting passed ordinances prescribing severe penalties for disturbing the peace and quietude of any street or neighborhood by “blowing horns, trumpets, or other instruments,” or by the “calling of drums, tambourines, kettles, pans, or other sounding vessels,” or by “singing, bellowing, howling, or screaming, scolding, hallowing, or cursing.” Also on Sunday all people were forbidden to “make unusual noise, play at any game of amusement, sell or give away vinous, spiritous, or malt liquors.” All river steamers were ordered to moor quietly, and were prohibited from landing freight or blowing a whistle on Sunday. One boat captain was fined $22.50 for landing freight on Sunday contrary to the ordinances.

St. Paul got along swimmingly, and, waxed moral. The town was painfully good. Municipal vice was unknown. Five churches prospered, school houses were built. Yet there were those who saw wickedness in everything, and the result was an ordinance introduced, but never passed, which read as follows: “Resolved, that to advance the moral character of the community, no person shall be permitted to hang the undergarments of either sex on a public clothes line, as such an act is detrimental to the public morals of the people.”

The prude who introduced that ordinance provoked nothing worse than a howl of laughter and a storm of derision, and the ordinance was indefinitely postponed.

By 1850 the Town of St. Paul had grown to 2197 souls, according to the town census, and in 1854 St. Paul was incorporated as a City. Then the population had increased to 4000 and the city valuation was placed at $1,300,000.