The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1906-03-14
FORTY YEARS AGO.
Excerpts Taken from St. Paul Papers of
Forty Years Ago.

Minnesota, the builder of the first
log chapel in what is now St. Paul.
and the man who named the settle
ment ST. Paul, died this week at
Prairie du Chen, where he was
pastor. Father Galtier, Rev. Joseph
Cretin, afterward first bishop Of St.
Paul, and Rev. A. Ravoux left
France in 1888 for the western wilds
of America.
Father Galtier landed at Fort
Smelling in April, 1910, resided for
some months in a portion of one of
the stone houses near the enclosure
of the fort, and afterwards moved
to St. Peters (now Mendota) trading
post, where Mr.. Faribault donated
to him a small house, which he used
at the same time as chapel and
pastoral residence. His flock at
first consisted of the Catholic SOL
diers of the garrison and of ten
families that resided in the neigh
borhood.
ST. Paul did not as yet exist.
Where the fourishing capital of
Minnesota was destined to arise
Phalon's log shanty, solitary and
alone, met the missionary's gaze as
he first assembled the Mississippi.
1t was not long, however, before a
number of families arrived from the
Red River of the North, who had
located themselves on the east bank
of the Mississippi, opposite the fort,
were obliged to remove outside the
limits of the reservation, and took
up claims, reaching from the bor-
ders of the military reserve to Pigs
Eye Bar"
The building of a church was now
a pressing need. It's site was left
to the priest, regarding which Faith
er Galtier, in a letter to Bishop
Grace, says: "Three different points
were offered. One called La Pointe
Base, or Point LIE Clair, (now Pigs
Eye, was Objectionable because it
was the very extreme end of the
new settlement, and in high water
was exposed to inundation. The
idea of building a church which
might at any day be swept down
the river to St. Louis did not please
me-"
1.-TWO miles and half further up
on his elevated claim (now the
southern point of Dayton's bluff
Mr.. Mosseau offered me an acre of
his ground, but the place did not
suit my purpose. was truly look
ing ahead, thinking of the future
as we'll as of the present. Steam
boats could not stop there, the bank
was too steep, the place on the sum-
nit of the hills too restricted and
communication with other parts of
the settlement difficult.
II
Several persons asked me to put
up the church at the nearest pos
sible point to the cave, because it
would be more convenient for me
to cross the river when coming from
St. Peter, and because also itxwould
be the nearest point to the head of
navigation, outside of the reserva-
ton line. This cave. is about two
miles up the river.
Mr.. B. Gervais and Mr.. Vetal
Guerin had the only spot that ap-
peared to answer the purpose. They
consented to give me jointly the
ground necessary for a church site
and a grave yard. | accepted the
extreme eastern part of Mr. Guerin's
claim and the extreme west of Mr..
Gervais Accordingly in 1871, in
the month of October, logs were
prepared and a church was erected,
so poor that it would well remind
one of the stable at Bethlehem. On
the 1st day of November of the
same year, | blessed the new basilica
and dedicated it to St. Paul, the
apostle of nations.
In the meantime Father Galtier
-