rvation line. Mr. B.
Gervais and Mr. Vetal Guerin, two good, quiet farmers, had the
only spot which appeared likely to answer the purpose. They
consented jointly to give me the ground necessary for a church
site, a garden and a small graveyard. I accepted the extreme
eastern part of Mr. Vetal's claim, and the extreme west of Mr.
Gervais'. Accordingly, in the month of October, 1841, logs were
prepared and a church erected, so poor that it well reminded one
of the stable of Bethlehem. It was destined, however, to be the
nucleus of a great city. On the first day of November, in the
same year, I blessed the new _basilica_, and dedicated it to
Saint Paul, the apostle of nations. I expressed a wish, at the
same time, that the settlement would be known by the same name,
and my desire was obtained. I had, previously to this time,
fixed my residence at St. Peters, and as the name of _Paul_ is
generally connected with that of _Peter_, and the Gentiles being
well represented at the new place in the persons of Indians, I
called it St. Paul. The name "Saint Paul," applied to a town or
city seemed appropriate. The monosyllable is short, sounds well,
and is understood by all denominations of Christians. When Mr.
Vetal was married, I published the banns as those of a resident
of St. Paul. A Mr. Jackson put up a store, and a grocery was
opened at the foot of Gervais' claim. This soon brought
steamboats to land there. Thenceforth the place was known as
'Saint Paul Landing,' and later on as Saint Paul."

The chapel was a small log structure--one story high, one door, and no
windows in front, with two windows on each side, and one in the rear
end. It had on the front gable end a large wooden cross, which projected
above the peak of the roof some six or eight feet. It occupied a
conspicuous position, on the top of the high bluff overlooking the
Mississippi, some six or eight hundred feet below the point where the
Wabasha street bridge now spans the river, I think, between Minnesota
and Cedar streets.

The region thus named was formerly known by the appellation of "Pig's
Eye." The state owes Father Galtier a debt of gratitude for having
changed it, as it seems impossible that the capital city could ever have
attained its present majestic proportions, numerous and cultivated
population, and many other advantages and attractions, under the
handic