Atlantica - 01.09.2000, Page 29

A T L A N T I C A 27
The first people to live in this watery
world were the Dakota Indians. Water –
the mighty Mississippi River – draws
the dividing line between the
Minneapolis and Saint Paul settle-
ments that Mark Twain later dubbed
“The Twin Cities”.
The first thing that meets the eye
when flying in to land is the lush green-
ery that overrides human habitation,
and the lakes that form a myriad of
blue eyes staring up at you. From the
midst of all this green wilderness rises
the sophisticated Minneapolis skyline.
Franciscan missionary Father Louis
Hennepin, who travelled up the
Mississippi in 1680, was the first
European to set eyes on the place. In
1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike searched
in vain for the source of the Mississippi
but successfully negotiated with the
Dakota for rights to the site where the
Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers
meet. In 1820, Captain Josia Snelling
and his army troops began to build
Fort Snelling, on the land which is now
right by the Minneapolis/St Paul
International Airport.
In 1840, an eyepatch-wearing boot-
legger and saloon owner, Pierre “Pig’s
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