Capital of Minnesota is Pig's Eye

                                           Capital of Minnesota - Pig's Eye

Yes, it's true. The capital of Minnesota was called Pig's Eye. How could that be? Read on to find out.

Pierre Parrant was born near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, around 1777. He became a fur trapper for the McKenzie and Chouteau companies. Then the fur trade dwindled, and he took up whiskey making. He set up his first shop near Fort Stillwater in the Minnesota Territory. The commander of the fort, Major Lawrence Taliaferro, did not like his soldiers having ready access to the whiskey, and he was against selling the alcohol to the Native Americans. The Major ordered Mr. Parrant, also known as Pig's Eye, to leave the Jurisdiction of the Federal fort. Mr. Parrant would not obey the order, so early one morning in 1838,  he was physically picked up and put on a raft with a keg of whiskey and a couple of blankets and told to go. As Pig's Eye was in a drunken stupor, as he liked his product a good deal, he could not resist. When he awoke near dusk, he steered his raft to shore near the foot of what is now Ramsey Street.

The place was to his liking. There was a cave with bubbling spring water. Here at Fountain Cave, Pig's Eye opened his whiskey business. He had plenty of customers besides himself, as the soldiers could still sample his wares, and the steamboat crews and early settlers liked his product. Pig's Eye Landing, shortened to Pig's Eye, was the center of the "town." 

In 1848 The Territory of Wisconsin, which included Minnesota, was made a state. The western section of the Wisconsin Territory was made into the Minnesota Territory, and Pig's Eye was the capital; even the post office recognized it. Mail was sent and received with the person's name and the words Pig's Eye, Minnesota, for the address.

Father Lucien Gaultier, a priest of the Diocese of Dubuque, built the Church of St. Paul. Male church members did not like the Pig's Eye enterprise, so they banned together. They convinced the Post Commandant of Fort Snelling to help them eliminate this evil element. So in May 1840, a squad of soldiers came down to Pig's Eye City and burned down the distillery and Pig's Eye's cabin. He had to leave.

On November 1, 1849, a legislative act named St. Paul as the capital. The city had eighteen houses, a church, a log cabin, a city hall, and a census of 840 people. The historical remembrance of Pig's Eye Landing is a marker alongside Shepard Road and 1/4 mile Southwest of the intersection of Randolph and Shepard Road.

What happened to Pig's Eye? Stories differ on that. One account is he decided to go back to Sault Ste. Marie, but he died on the way. Another tale has him going to Winnipeg, Canada, where he married and had three children, and then to North Dakota, where he married a Native American woman and died. No record of his burial is known. 

Why was Pierre Parrant called Pig's Eye? He had one eye with a white ring around the pupil, giving it a piggish look. Some reports are he had a peculiar squint after he, under the influence of his whiskey product, had a fight with fellow drunkards.

Where is the cave? It was a tourist attraction from 1850-1880. Then sewage and stormwater from a railroad company entered the cave. Residential development affected the hydrology, so the cave's entrance was buried during the construction of Shepard Road in 1960.

What do you think? What if the news reports today were as follows: "Good evening. This breaking news is from Pig's Eye, the capital of Minnesota." The name would rival all the other names of state capitols in interest. Nothing about Minnesota is dull.

Picture of Cass Gilbert and the state capitol building. 

The first capitol was built by the year 1847. It was located on Wabasha between Tenth and Exchange. It burned in 1881, and the second capitol was built two years later at the same spot. It was soon overcrowded. So the legislature appropriated $4,500,000 to construct a new building. And the construction started in 1896. Cass Gilbert was a young architect. He was born in St. Paul. He later became the nation's best-known architect. The building was finished in 1905. It is still standing as Minnesota's capitol.

What would the building look like if the name of Pig's Eye stuck as the capital city? What would Cass Gilbert designed?