Joe Rolette Ran Away with the state capital of Minnesota

 Fur Trader and Legislator Ran Off with the                               Capital of Minnesota!

Yes, he did. How? Read on.

Joe Rolette's father was in the fur trade at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Joe was raised with the Native Americans (they were called Indians in that day). Joe was sent to New York City for an education.

Even back then, New York City was considered a big, bustling modern city. Joe turned heads dressed in Indian buckskin clothes. By 1840 he was in Pembina in the Minnesota Territory and started a trading post, and led some of the first oxcarts from Pembina to the capital city of St. Paul. He was elected to the legislature for six consecutive terms. The congress was in session in the winter months. So, Joe would arrive by dog sled trimmed with bells and ribbons, and he wore his voyageur clothing.

The 1857 session was in bedlam. The territory would soon be a state; many politicians wanted to be first in line for power. Some southern legislators decided it would be in their best interest if the new state's capital moved from St. Paul to St. Peter. The House and the Senate approved the bill, which needed to be signed by the governor.

Joe decided the capital should stay in St. Paul, so before the bill went to the governor, he took it and ran away. Other legislators who agreed with Joe kept the senators in continuous session until Joe was found.

The senators slept at their desks or on cots brought into the Senate for six days. Some senators who wanted St. Peter as the capital put out disinformation and said Joe returned to Pembina, while others said he was killed.

Where was he? He was staying at a St. Paul hotel called the Fuller House, and the bill was in a bank safe. 

The sergeant-at-arms spent his days looking for Joe and his evenings playing poker with him.

One minute before the session ended, Joe walked into the Senate with the bill. The gavel banged, and the session ended. St. Paul was saved.

When Minnesota became a state, Pembina was outside the border. It is in North Dakota, with a population of 512 in the 2020 census. Pembina means highbush cranberry, just in case you are interested. 

St. Paul hasn't any parks or streets bearing Joe Rolette's name. Joe died in Pembina in 1871, penniless and forgotten despite the fact he single handily saved the capital of St.Paul.