Pierre Parrant

Sources disagree about Parrant's exact history before settling in the Minnesota Territory, but most indicate that he was of French Canadian origin (or perhaps Métis)[2] and born near Sault Ste.

Then, around June 1, 1838, Parrant completed a small shack that, according to an 1892 publication by Albert A. Jones, became "the first habitation, and the first business house of Saint Paul.

[4]: 65 Fountain Cave was an excellent location for Parrant's claim, as the spring inside it provided a steady water supply for his still.

[1]: 147  Parrant had become so popular, in fact, that when a nearby resident named Joseph R. Brown sent a letter to a friend in 1839 he gave the return address simply as "Pig's Eye".

Not long after, Brown received correspondence at the address he had given,[7] showing that the growing community around Pierre's bar was becoming known as "Pig's Eye".

So aghast was Galtier that the village on the river derived its name from a man of such ill repute that, when he built his small chapel in the area in 1841, he reportedly stated, "Pig's Eye, converted thou shalt be, like Saul; Arise, and be, henceforth, Saint Paul!