Everyone Minnesotan knows that Saint Paul is the state’s capital. But it was very nearly called something… Unusual. Located primarily east of the Mississippi River, the area of what is now known as Saint Paul was originally settled by the Hopewell Native Americans around 2,000 years ago. The United States acquired the land in the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803 and the U.S. Army began building forts in and around Saint Paul a short time later.