BOB GREEN

Most of us have activities that we like to do to relax. Those activities may be golf, gardening, reading, entertaining friends or family, or just maintaining your home.

I like to ride motorcycle. With the demands of running a business and a political campaign, my time is limited and, so then, are my motorcycle tours.

This afternoon I took a little ride to some of the historic areas of St. Paul along the Mississippi River.

Shepard Road passes the Upper and Lower Steamboat Landings where steamboats would beach to unload and load passengers and goods when St. Paul was a frontier city.

Across the river is South St. Paul and West St. Paul. Does anyone know why West St. Paul is actually south of St. Paul and not west of St. Paul?

Farther down Shepard Road is an area known as Pig’s Eye. This area is apparently named after Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant, a colorful individual who opened the first business in St. Paul. Now, some 170 years later, the name “Pig’s Eye” brings to mind a beer that was named after him or the sewage processing plant that now is in the Pig’s Eye area. What a way to be remembered, huh?

Doubling back along the limestone cliffs that jut over the river, we come to the Indian Mounds. These mounds are burial spots for Native American peoples.

Native Americans of this area and the era before European settlers buried their dead on cliffs overlooking rivers. These mounds may date back to the time of the birth of Christ.

The site of Carver’s cave is just a ways north of the mounds. Here, early British explorer Jonathan Carver met with some 300 Sioux in about 1766 to warn them against alliances with the French. The cave has long since been destroyed by railroad construction and cave ins.

The site of the chapel built by Father Lucien Galtier is on Kellogg Boulevard overlooking the river. Father Galtier built his log chapel in 1841 and named it after the apostle Paul- St. Paul. Later, the city that developed around this chapel would take the name St. Paul.

A bit farther west is Irving Park. This small plot of land was donated to St. Paul by a developer (by the name of Mr. Irving) and meant to be used as a park. On the streets around Irving Park are some of the oldest houses in St. Paul. Continuing westward again along Shepard Road, we pass the limestone cliffs where soldiers took the stones to build Fort Snelling. The site for Fort Snelling was first identified in about 1805 by either Lt. Zebulon Pike (yup, the same guy Pike’s Peak is named after) or a military engineer in Pike’s exploration party.

And crossing the river again to get back to Bloomington, we pass what used to be known as Wold-Chamberlain Field, now known as Mpls-St. Paul International Airport. This area started out as an automobile race course. Since it was flat and easy for airplanes to take off and land, it eventually grew into an airport. I remember when part of this area was a farm. (No, I am not THAT old).

Hope you enjoyed the tour too!