Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-31
Articfe III.
BY T. NJ. NEwsoN.
PIERRE PARRANT.

PIERRE PARRANT.
In our last article we accorded to Pierre
Psrrant the honor of being the first white
man who settled in st. Paul. His log
house was erected at the mouth
of the small stream which flows
from Fountain cave, near the present
brewery of Mr.. Barnholzer, in the upper
part of the city, and just off the old Fort
road, now the property of the Chicago, St.
Paul d. Omaha Railroad company. Here
he sold whisky to the Indians and to the
soldiers from Fort Smelling, and here he
made his claim. He vas followed by one
Perret and family, who located near Par
| rant, and whose shanty stood where the
old City Hospital now stands. It must be
borne in mind, that the treaty with the
Indians, ceding this property to the govern
ment, was made in June, 1887, so that the
land was then open to settlement;
and, following Parrant and
Perret, (both Frencbmen, from the Red
river region,) came the Gervais brothers,
Pierre and Ben, who made claims this side
of Perret; and following these came
| three discharged soldiers, Evans, Hays and
Phelan, who also made claims; two of them
settling this side of the cave, while Evans
| took up his abode on Dayton's bluff. Their
claims ran FROM the river to the bluff, and
took in what is now known as a part of
Third street in upper town, including
Wabashaw and Eagle streets, on the first
| plateau above the river. Then came a
4 -
johnson, who built house
near where the gas works now
| stand; and then, in 1889, followed an Eng
lishman by the name of james R. Clewett,
who married Perret's daughter, and thus
| commenced the early settlement of ST.
Paul, a little over forty years ago.
PIGS EYE.
We have already noted the fact. that
Pierre Parrant moved to a place called
Pigs Eye, $50 named after his peculiar
OPTIC about three miles below st. Paul,
| and here settled in 1889, some fifteen
Frenchmen, then in the employ of the old
American Fur company. Pigs Eye is
| only noted now as the place where a sand
| bar intercepts the navigation of the Mis-
sissippi river. st. Paul, for time, was
| more euphoniou5 name, which is sti
| cherished by the city. Previous to moving
| to Pigs Eye, Parrant made other claims
| in the city, of which we shall speak here
after.
vETAL GUERIN-THE EARLY FRENCH.
1t is an indisputabe fact, that the early
| settlers of our city were French, and most
of them came from the north, and were a
hardy, bold, brave class of men. A
French fort was built at Lake Pepin, also
| at the mouth of the Le Sueur rivsr. They
were trappers and voyagers, and Injured to
| frontier life. Among those whose memo
| ry is greatly cherished by soma of the
| Oldest settlers in the city, is that of the
| agraph. Mr.. Guerin was born in Canada,
in 1912: entered the services
of the American Fur company in 1882;
reached Mendoza the same year; served
| the company three yeare, and continued
about this section for some time afterWard,
when he settled upon the claim previously
made by the discharged soldier, Hays, and
| built his cabin where IngeTsolPs block now
/ stands. Then trees and brush and good
sized forest greeted his view where now
| Is d DuSS tudrL Oh tF6u6 dIO OI COulu SFCS.
| Before mis- death he lived in small one
story and half house, built after the
| French fashion, which stood on the ground
now occupied by Sherman block,on Waoa-
shaw street.
| PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF GUERIN.
| We remember Mr.. Guerin as slender
| man, with sharp features, q mobile face,
cool and slow in his movements, quiet in
| his manners, and transformations in his
| dress. He was an unselfish man, kindly
| disposed, yet decisive in his character, and
| lived quiet, unobtrusive life. AS an H.
lustration of his generous impulses, we
state the fact, that he gave part of his
claim to an old friend, who erected a
cabin where Mr.. Goodhue's house for
merly stood, corner of Third and st.
Peter streets, but subsequently this friend
sold his part of the claim for $3.50.
| SUDDEN WEALTH.
| In 1S49 the rise in the value of Mr..
| Guerin's property-that is, his claim
made him worth $4,000, but it did not
change the quiet, humble citizen, who, out
of his newly acquired wealth, gave lib
orally. The land whereon our present
| COuIt hOu5O otdhAo, dld WuSIO 5ONOIdi
churches rear their spires heavenward, ives
cheerfully given by this really good man.
| Re was generous to his poor ccuntrymen,
and many remember him with grateful
hearts. He was unlike other Frenchmen
more cool in his manner; and when sur
rounded by danger from attack by the
| Indians, land he had many narrow escapes
in this direction,) he exhibited q
| calmness, which, in view OF his nationality,
| was truly marvellous.
| ATTACKED BY THE INDIANS.
| Immediately after the marriage of Mr..
Guerin, to the daughter of
| Mr.. Perret, he lived in his
| cabin, which, as we have already writ
ten, stood just where Ingersolrs block now
stands. Williams, in his history, says:
| "a few rods from Guerin's cabin was Par
| rants establishment, and the powerful na-
ture of the Minnewakan he sold the In
| dams there, used TO turn them sometimes
into red demons. In one of their crazy
sprees the Indians killed Guerin's COW and
| pig, and destroyed other property. In
deed, the lives of Guerin and his bride were
oftentimes in danger, and their honeymoon
was somewhat stormy one, take it all in
all. These devilish sprees of the Indians
occurred occasionally for several years.
Once, when Mrs. Guerin was nursing her
| first child, about two months old, some