St. Paul

Bill Lindeke tells the stories of the peoples and conditions that shaped this Minnesota capital city. The Dakota village forced to move across the Mississippi by a treaty--and why whiskey sellers took over the site; the new community's close ties to Fort Snelling and Winnipeg; the steamboats and railroads that created a booming city; the German immigrants who outnumbered the Irish but kept a low profile when the United States went to war; the laborers who built the domes over the state capitol and the Cathedral of St. Paul; the gangsters and bootleggers who found refuge in the city; the strong neighborhoods, shaped by streets built on footpaths and wagon roads--until freeway construction changed so much; and the Hmong, Mexican, East African, and Karen immigrants who continue to build the city's strong traditions of small businesses.--From statement at publisher's website.