Tag Archives: gunpowder

Lake Pepin Cave view

French Saltpeter Caves in Minnesota

In 1700, the French fur-trader Pierre-Charles Le Sueur (1657-1704), while ascending the Mississippi River, described saltpeter caves along the west side of Lake Pepin, in Minnesota. This is the earliest record of cave saltpeter in America according to Shaw (1992, p. 52). Le Sueur’s Journal, under the dates September 10 to September 14, 1700, reports […]

Yoergs Cave junk

Yoergs Brewery Cave

Minnesota’s first brewery, which produced lager beer, was established in 1848 by Anthony Yoerg, in St. Paul. Yoerg, like many St. Paul brewers to come, was a native of Bavaria, the cradle of the German brewing industry. It wasn’t until 1871 that Yoerg moved to the location that was to be so closely associated with […]