Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant

Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant. He was a French Canadian fur trader, bootlegger, and early settler whose establishment of a whiskey trading post at a strategic Mississippi River landing directly preceded the founding of Saint Paul, Minnesota. His notorious nickname, derived from a physical deformity, was temporarily adopted by the fledgling settlement, making him an iconic and controversial figure in the History of Minnesota. Parrant's activities highlighted the tensions between frontier lawlessness and the incoming influence of Fort Snelling and missionary settlers in the Minnesota Territory.

Early life and arrival

Little is definitively known about Parrant's early years, though historical accounts suggest he was born around 1777, possibly in Sault Ste. Marie. He was of French Canadian descent and worked as a voyageur and fur trapper in the Great Lakes region. By the 1830s, he had migrated westward, arriving in the area surrounding the military outpost of Fort Snelling. This period saw significant transition, as the United States Army sought to exert control, while the local Dakota people and Métis communities, along with traders like Parrant, operated under a more fluid set of frontier norms. His arrival coincided with the forced relocation of a mixed-community from the fort's land, a group that included the pioneering Benjamin Gervais and the Roman Catholic missionary Lucien Galtier.

Establishment of Pig's Eye

In 1838, Parrant laid claim to a squatter's settlement at a cave near the Mississippi's landing, strategically located just outside the jurisdiction of Fort Snelling. He quickly established a primitive tavern and trading post, dealing primarily in illicit whiskey to soldiers, trappers, and indigenous people. The location, known as "Pig's Eye Landing," derived its name directly from Parrant's own nickname, a moniker he earned due to a blind or disfigured eye. This enterprise made his settlement a notorious, bustling hub, effectively serving as the first nucleus of commercial activity in what would become Saint Paul. The area's notoriety was such that when Father Lucien Galtier built the first chapel nearby in 1841, the surrounding community was colloquially referred to as "Pig's Eye."

Impact and legacy

Parrant's legacy is fundamentally tied to the founding identity of Saint Paul, Minnesota. His "Pig's Eye" settlement provided the initial draw and name for the location, though more established settlers and leaders like Henry Hastings Sibley and Alexander Ramsey worked to officially rename it Saint Paul to foster a more respectable image for the Minnesota Territory's capital. The name persisted geographically in Pig's Eye Lake and the surrounding Pig's Eye Island in the Mississippi River. Historians view Parrant as a symbol of the rough, ungoverned frontier era that preceded formal American settlement and statehood, with his story often contrasting the lawless early trade with the subsequent orderly development promoted by territorial governors and the Catholic Church.

Cultural depictions

The colorful figure of Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant has been referenced in various regional cultural works. He appears as a character in local historical pageants and plays about the founding of Saint Paul, Minnesota. His nickname and the story of the naming of Pig's Eye are frequent anecdotes in histories of Minnesota, such as those by William Watts Folwell and popular writers like Grace Lee Nute. The tale is a staple of Minnesota folklore, often used to illustrate the state's vibrant and occasionally disreputable fur trade origins before its transformation into a major political and commercial center of the Upper Midwest.

Category:American fur traders Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Year of death unknown