[1.] We entered a strange wilderness
[2.] We camped among Indian Nations
[3.] We trapped the land 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 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 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]
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