St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-06

business of ST. Paul is almost eQulva-
lent TO giving a complete history Of the
city from It's earliest infancy to the pres
ent time. for the necessities of frontier
life compelled everybody who had
financial business TO transact to deal
more or less with those who were able
10 give them moneys current in the
East for such funds or property as they
could obtain here. 1t was very differ
ent then from what is now the condi-
ton. At that time there were no ma
tional banks. with their notes based
upon United States bonds, and therefore
equally available as a medium Of ex-
change in all parts OF the country; nor
did we have greenbackS. or silver and
gold certificates. As for silver and
gold coin, we knew what it was, for the
memory retains through long intervals
of time pleasant impressions fixed upon
il by the occurrences and facts OF eXpe-
riences through which one may have
passed: but such recOllectiOnS were
not wholly satisfactory TO a man WHO
wished ia remit money 10 his family or
pay bills in the older states, where he had
previously made his home. or had deal
ings with those who were still living
there They demanded. and had right
10 have. money that would pass current
for lis nominal value with them
True. the United States paid its sol
diers and Indian bureau officials and
employees in coin, tut the bulk Of this
soon went into tie hands Of suffers, In
dian traders and unlicensed sa-
loOnkeepers, and could only be
highly fevOred children OF Dame Fort
une what would now he looked upon
as excessive rates of exchange, or Dor
rOwed on A No. l" collateral at rates
of interest which would Justify all the
hard names and profane language that
modern ''refOTmers' have applied TO
Dealers in Money
as a class. As the sutleT was located at
Fort Smelling. and confined his tTanSac-
lions mainly TO army officers and SOL
diers he cannot fairly be regarded as
St Paul banker. Nor would it be true
10 include the Indian traders generally
in this list, though several of them
were located in the city. Per-
haps the earliest banker. broker, or
financial agent. as one may prefer TO
call him, was the man who Is known to
fame by the euphOniOus cOgnOmen of
Pigs Eye" otherwise Pierre Parrant
He did not call himself either banker,
broker o. agent. but was content with
the less pTetentiOus designation of
''Tum' seller. He dealt in money, how
ever. much OfteneT than he dealt in
rum, for raw whisky was the staple of
his stock in trade. and he magnanl-
mOuSlv diminished IFS YiTulentprOpe
by adding liberal quantities of spring
water before dispensing II TO his Gus
toners.
But Parrant certainly did considera-
bic business in the banking line. for he
loaned money on cOllateralS. discounted
notes and bills. and bought and sold eX-
change, regulating his terms commonly
by the ability or Willingness OF his Gus
toners 10 pay. and the probable proper
ton of what they received they would
spend IN his establishment for whisky
and water. A modern Alliance agitatOr
would. no doubt. have denounced him
as a UsuTeT. but he only represented his
class. There were and still are a
good many people whose ethics of
trade are no whit superior TO
those of Pierre PaTrant. The Indian
traders occupied a much higher level.
They really gave something for some
thing. and permitted their customers to
and usually with a few drinks Of whisky
besides. Notwithstanding ali that has
been said against them, men of this
class were for the most part far better
than they are believed To have been.
They were brave, generous and reli-
able. and the man who did business
with them had little reason 10 appre-
bend being defrauded. so long as his
own conduct was above suspicion: but.
10 a man. they gloried in getting ahead
OF any one who they had cause to be-
leve was endeaVOTing to take advan-
tage OF them in atrade. Their law was:
Cheat him who tries TO cheat you-and
cheat him badly" After the Indian
traders came the merchants. lumber
men. land agents and others. who
fi0cked higher as time progressed. and
many Of whom dealt in financial paper
for the accommodation Of their neigh
bOTs; and. as competition increased,
rates of interest and exchange were
lessened.
The First Bank.
From such records as are now obtain
able. we are led TO believe that NesSrS.
BOrup & Cakes. the WellknOwn firm of
1udian traders. and subsequently whole
sale merchants. whose house has con-
day. were the first TO engage in a legiti-
mate banking business here. Their
place was on Third street, east of Jack
son. and they seem TO have been very
fair business men, for their house was
quite popular. They were certainly
ObligiEg, even to strangers from whom
they could hope for no return of faYOrS.
They were not only conservative in
their methods of doing business, but
also in their choice Of location, for, as
far as the writer remembers, or
can ascertain. they never removed from
the neighborhOOd where they first
opened business. Beyond occasional
paragraphs in the newspapers Of that
day there IS 10 record OF what was done
here in the banking line earlier than
1855. when the first city directory was
published. Old settlers remember that
real estate agents usually associated
more or less features of banking with
their business. They loaned money
upon soldiers land warrants and half
breed and other varieties of land scrip,
and exchanged funds current here for
such were brought hither by newly
arriving immigrants, that is to say,
bought and sold exchange. A very
large aggregate of this class Of business
was transacted, for few days passed
between May l and Dec. l of
each year which did not witness the
arrival of strangers who had 10 have
their UncuTTent funds, consisting of
notes Of Eastern or Southern banks.
exchanged for those Of banks in
the Western states. No man could
safely do this business who did