Our first visit to the Apostolic city was on the morning of one of those golden days in early autumn, any one of which might have inspired Longfellow’s little poem, “A Day of Sunshine,” they were so perfect.

The goodly ship on which we came was rounding a tract of low meadow-land, skirted by some forest growths, when suddenly the streaming sunlight was flashed back to us from the spires of the city of St. Paul itself, sitting like a queenly crown at the head of this noblest of all rivers.

All were surprised and delighted to find that, in the matter of its location and general appearance, it so far exceeded what our fancies had painted it. No correct idea had been conveyed by any representation of it that we had ever seen, nor had any sketch sufficiently outlined it for the imagination to fill up; yet we were prepared to see a pretty city, though not looking for a grand one. The view from the deck of the steamer, as the traveller approaches the place, is one of the best. The river makes an abrupt turn to the westward, in front of the city, which is situated on the northern side of this elbow, immediately at the turn, with its face full southward down the river. It would, after all, fail to be as imposing as it is but for its location, which is greatly elevated above the river, rising from it in irregular grades, with intervening tables, back fully a mile to the summit of the high bluffs forming the rear of the city.

The common impression in relation to all towns in the new States, and with reason, too, is, that they are of such rapid growth, under speculative influences, as to often possess no solid elements of prosperity, and that, after the first wave of excitement dies out, they collapse; but if they have real advantages of position and enterprise combined, the prize is as surely theirs. The critical period for St. Paul has passed, like that in the life of its great namesake, and the visitor, as he walks along the streets of the town, finds evidences of its substantial and permanent growth on every hand.

Probably no place of the same population in the entire valley, from New Orleans up, can boast of as many substantial and costly stores, or as many elegant and tasteful houses, as can St. Paul. The fine prospect to be had from every portion of the town is likewise a noted feature peculiar to itself, and is what neither wealth nor art can create. Back, on the edge of the bluff, which surrounds the city in a semi-circular form, runs Summit Avenue, already a fashionable quarter, but which, ere long, must be famed as commanding one of the most interesting landscapes in a country abounding in many natural beauties.

From Dayton’s Bluff, on the left, likewise an attractive point in itself, the best view of the city can be had. Under this bluff is a cave, which was used as the council-chamber of the red men, and has been the witness of many a notable event. It is a subterraneous cavern formed by the running water wearing away the soft, white, calcareous sand, which, everywhere in this section, underlies the strata of blue limestone next to the surface. There are several of these caves near the town, but of no great interest beyond serving to while away an idle hour, or to give some additional zest to a morning’s ramble.

St. Paul received its name from Pere Louis Hennepin, a European, belonging to the Order of Franciscans, who landed on the present site of the city while on a voyage of exploration and discovery up the Mississippi River, in April, 1680. He was an extensive traveller and prolific writer; but of all things done by him, that of giving the name of the famous Apostle to this locality, and now city, was by far the best. The next hundred and fifty years passed by and still all a blank, and not till 1850, the year following the territorial organization of Minnesota, can it be said to have assumed the appearance of a permanent settlement, with a population of perhaps a thousand adventurous souls.

The present enumeration of St. Paul, as given by the census of 1870, just completed, shows a trifle over twenty thousand. This is not as high a figure as the people had hoped for and counted upon; but yet this shows an increase of about seventy-five per cent. for the last five years. No one can walk the city and not believe that this recent and rapid growth has substantial foundation in the enlarging business and increasing importance of the town itself.

The public buildings and works of the city are worthy of note in any sketch; and we would first call attention to the Capitol, which stands obscured from the river, and back of the centre of business, on the table between the front and rear bluffs. It is a plain structure of brick, in the form of a cross, with wings of equal length. This must eventually give room to a more suitable and dignified structure, yet for all present needs, and during the infancy of the State, it is not at all inappropriate.

The most costly building, when finished, will be the Custom-House of the General Government. It is being built of granite, brought from St. Cloud, and is estimated to cost the handsome sum of three hundred thousand dollars.

The interests of education are well looked after in the half-dozen public school buildings; and the religious element has abundant spiritual food dispensed from the full score of costly and well-ordered church edifices, some of which contribute much to the architectural grace and ornament of the town.

A notable feature in the landscape, as the city is approached by either railroad or river, is the wooden bridge spanning the river just at the steamboat landing. It is over a fourth of a mile in length, and built upon an inclined plane, at a cost of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The first abutment on the side of the city starts on a level with the bluff, giving seventy-five feet between the bridge and the river, and then falls rapidly away, supported by nine stone piers, to the low flat land on the opposite shore. This is used as a carriage road, and connects St. Paul with all the adjacent country on the opposite side of the river. A half-mile beyond this bridge, the companion bluff to that on which the city stands begins, rising to an equal height with it. These bluffs, however, it should be stated, are not of such imposing appearance as are those on the river below, and concerning which we have written in a preceding chapter. They seem to gradually lessen in height from four and five hundred feet at Lake Pepin, where the greatest altitude occurs, to about one-third of that here at St. Paul.

The city’s supply of water is fine, and at all times abundant; a lake back of the town being the natural reservoir of this supply. What has been to many towns a great labor and burden, has here required but a trifling expense.

Hotels are usually the traveller’s thermometer by which he judges the culture, beauty, and general characteristics of the town. It is quite singular that people remember a town either with delight or disgust, just in proportion as the entertainment furnished at their hotel is good or bad, but there is more of truth in this than any of us would care at first to acknowledge. The good people of St. Paul have, however, nothing to fear in this respect. There are several fine establishments, chief of which is the “Metropolitan,” and then the “Park Place,” with its cool and ample verandahs, inviting travellers to repose and rest.

The question of a Public Park is being agitated, and with every hope that it will be carried to successful results. But little attention has been given this matter by any of our cities until a very recent period; and now their beauty and utility having been established, many towns are moving in this most important matter. St. Paul can afford to issue bonds liberally to this end; and should the district under consideration be secured, including the beautiful Lake Como, little elaboration will suffice to make it immediately a notable feature of the town.

The strata of blue limestone near the surface, and on which the city practically stands, is of great value, and quarries can be opened anywhere, from which good building material in unlimited quantities can be had at small cost; easily competing with lumber in the market, which is likewise plentiful, as we shall see when we come to look into the history and growth of the sister city on the river, above.

This stone already constitutes the chief material used in the erection of all the better class of buildings in the city, and, indeed, Third Street, the principal business thoroughfare, has even now little else than this honest and solid-looking material to represent it.

The sandstone underlying the magnesian limestone, and which is so soft as to be easily crushed, could be used we judge in the manufacture of glassware at great profit to the manufacturer; but as yet, there is nothing done that we know, and it is not strange when we reflect that it is but a score of years since St. Paul was really occupied and settled. All of this various strata of rock and sand belongs, geologically speaking, to what is known as the lower silurian system, extending from near the western shores of Lake Michigan, and sweeping over all the lower half of Minnesota, westward and upward along the valley of the great Red and Assinniboin Rivers to the north, marking one of the most prolific grain growing belts on the continent, if not in the world. While this limestone underlying the surface is valuable for the purposes heretofore named, it performs a still greater service to mankind in having contributed much of those qualities which have given in certain departments of agriculture, highest prominence to the State.

St. Paul is both the political and commercial capital of Minnesota, and must always remain such without doubt, though it does not occupy a central geographical position, still it is the practical centre of the commonwealth, made such by the enterprise of her people in extending the system of railways in all directions, with this point as a pivotal centre. There are already seven important roads radiating from this city, either completed or in rapid course of construction, giving at the present time a total of about seven hundred miles of finished road, over which daily or more trains run, and all within the boundaries of the State. Other lines beginning and ending elsewhere, yet likewise in the State, are not included, of course, in this consideration. These roads penetrate already, or will when completed, the principal centres of trade and agriculture lying in the Northwest.

Daily communication is already had by rail with the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Duluth, and in the near future another, and, perhaps, in some respects; the most important link of all, that connecting St. Paul with Omaha and the Union Pacific Railway, known as the St. Paul and Sioux City Road. This line traverses the most fertile district in the State, as well as the most populous, following up the rich valley of the Minnesota to Mankato, where it leaves the river, holding a southwest direction for Sioux City in Iowa. The road is now completed as far as Madelia, one hundred and twelve miles from St. Paul, leaving a gap of about one hundred and fifty miles to be finished in order to make the proposed connection with the great central trunk road to the Pacific coast. We do not think that there is a single township of poor land along its entire route. On the other hand, speaking from personal observation, we know that the land is uniformly above the average in fertility, productiveness, and beauty.

Another, a more recent link of road, binding the city to the northeast and east as firmly as does the other to the southwest, is that known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Road, reaching one hundred and fifty miles to the young city of Duluth, standing at the head of the great lakes, whence cheap transportation to the Atlantic seaboard may be had for all the products of the Northwest.

Then there are the two lines in progress, which, with the one already running, will make three routes to Chicago and Milwaukee. By the present one, the St. Paul and Milwaukee, a whole day is consumed in making the journey, while by either of the others, sixteen hours only will be required. This saving of time will insure to the new routes a prosperous career. One of these new roads, the St. Paul and Chicago, nearly an air-line, is already done as far as Red Wing. This road follows the river to Winona, where it crosses, thence to Madison, making connection with a completed line to Chicago. When done, this will be the most desirable all rail route from the latter city to St. Paul and the principal towns along the river in Minnesota.

These truly great enterprises, of which St. Paul is the centre, form a just commentary on the prescience and industry of her people, who, while watchful of their own, do not forget the general interest of all, thereby giving to individual life a zest and recompense which mark only the highest and best purposes of our race.

Thus we see the iron arms of this possible future capital of the nation reaching out in all directions from this central seat of empire, binding firmly to it the great resources and vast wealth of the outlying and now tributary country, which as yet is only in the alphabet of its development.

Time was when a visit to St. Paul was accounted an era in the life of the traveller, since its remoteness and general inaccessibility involved a special journey; but now, few fail to make the tour while passing through the West, since both the facilities and pleasures are so great.

To stand at the head of two thousand miles of steamboat navigation along the line of a single river is in itself, were there no city, an inspiration. And when we contemplate that more than ten thousand miles of inland navigation attaches to this great river and its tributaries, at the head of which stands the beautiful city of St. Paul, we do not marvel at the dreams of splendor and of power already haunting the thinking population of this vast interior valley. A few brief years and the sceptre of political empire will have passed forever into the hands of this people without question, and ere long thereafter we confidently predict that the seat of government will surely follow. We know that the population along the Atlantic coast deride this idea; and, while having shared heretofore like opinions with them, yet, on reflection, we believe the child is born who will live to see this an accomplished fact.