Catalog
Ramsey County History – Winter 1995: “What Happened to Fountain Cave —The Real Birthplace of St. Paul?”
Greg BrickWhat Happened to Fountain Cave —The Real Birthplace of St. Paul? Author: Greg Brick A detailed account by a noted speleologist and urban geologist of his research on Fountain Cave in St. Paul, which was first reported by Major Stephen Long in 1817. The mouth of Fountain Cave was sealed…
Ramsey County History – Summer 1993: “Birth, Death and Reincarnation—The Story of Fort Snelling and Its State Park”
Samuel H. MorganBirth, Death and Reincarnation—The Story of Fort Snelling and Its State Park Author: Samuel H. Morgan Completed in 1820, then retired and recommissioned a few times over the next century and a quarter, Fort Snelling faced destruction with the building of a new freeway, cloverleaf interchange, and bridge over the…
Ramsey County History – Winter 1993: “Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve, Daughter of a Frontier Regiment—1819”
Ronald M. HubbsCharlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve, Daughter of a Frontier Regiment—1819 Author: Ronald M. Hubbs Charlotte Clark was born in Prairie du Chien in 1819 as her family made their way to her father’s posting at still-to-be-built Fort Snelling. As an adult, she married another soldier, who served in the Dakota War…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1992: “The Earl of Selkirk and His Utopian Dream”
Ronald M. HubbsThe Earl of Selkirk and His Utopian Dream Author: Ronald M. Hubbs Some of the first, and still remembered, settlers of St. Paul were refugees from the Selkirk Colony near today’s Winnipeg. This short piece tells the story of its conception, creation, creators, and fate. Its failure was Minnesota’s gain.
Ramsey County History – Fall 1991: “The 150th Anniversary of the Naming of the City: St. Paul and the Rush to Settlement—1840 to 1880
Virginia Brainard KunzThe 150th Anniversary of the Naming of the City: St. Paul and the Rush to Settlement—1840 to 1880 Author: Virginia Brainard Kunz St. Paul’s earliest years recounted by the dean of Ramsey County historians. The essential information and vital characters are all here: Father Galtier, the chapel and the name,…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1991: “Who WAS Pigs Eye Parrant, Anyway?”
Ronald M. HubbsWho WAS Pigs Eye Parrant, Anyway? Author: Ronald M. Hubbs Everything that is known about St. Paul’s first settler, in less than two full pages. He was an illiterate, intemperate, ill-mannered and itinerant fur trader and whiskey seller who hung around Fort Snelling for a few years in the mid-…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1991: “Forgotten Pioneer: Abraham Perry and the Story of His Flock”
Patrick R. MartinForgotten Pioneer: Abraham Perry and the Story of His Flock Author: Patrick R. Martin The story of early settler Abraham Perry, written by a great-great-great-great grandson. Perry (born Perret) was lured from Switzerland to the Selkirk Colony in Manitoba in 1820. When that failed, he and family came to Fort…
Ramsey County History – Spring 1991: “A Minnesotan Abroad: Alexander Wilkin and the ‘Dumpy’ Queen”
Ronald M. HubbsA Minnesotan Abroad: Alexander Wilkin and the ‘Dumpy’ Queen Author: Ronald M. Hubbs Wilkin, an important early Minnesota citizen, went to Europe three times, 1855–1858, and wrote letters home. Mostly he griped, though he did like Florence and big events that involved dressing up: “I wore my uniform which was…
Ramsey County History – Fall 1990: “No Cash, No Credit, No Jobs—St. Paul and the Panic of 1857”
Ronald M. HubbsNo Cash, No Credit, No Jobs—St. Paul and the Panic of 1857 Author: Ronald M. Hubbs The nationwide Panic of 1857 shattered the booming – and enthusiastically speculating – St. Paul. This piece follows the crisis mostly through the pens of newspapermen, chiefly those of the Daily Minnesotian and St.