Minnesota's Oldest Murder Mystery: The Case of Edward Phalen: St. Paul's Unsaintly Pioneer

by Gary Brueggemann

On September 27, 1839, the battered body of a middle-aged Irishman was found by some Dakota Indian boys. The corpse washed up along the Mississippi River shore, about seven miles downstream from Fort Snelling near the ancient Indian landmark the non-Indians called Carver's Cave. It was the body of Sgt. John Hays, a popular former soldier, who, prior to his disappearance twenty-one days earlier, had been sharing a log shanty a few miles upriver from the cave with his friend and business partner, Edward Phelan (or Phalen). Before the year was over, Phelan was arrested and charged with the murder of his friend. This is the first book to focus on this historic murder and the first thorough biography of Phelan, a notorious pioneer intimately involved in the making of St. Paul and founding of Minnesota. Was he guilty? All investigative reports and records of Phelan's trial were mysteriously lost and no newspapers covered the story. However, in 1994, St. Paul historian Gary Brueggemann made an amazing discovery in the Minnesota Historical Society hidden in the papers of Joseph R. Brown was Brown's original Justice of the Peace casebook which included his handwritten transcription of the Hays' murder hearing. Using this record, other primary sources, and drawing from decades of studying Minnesota and St. Paul history, the author theorizes a logical solution to Minnesota's oldest unsolved murder.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Historical

328 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2012

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was an illuminating look at a chapter of Minnesota history I didn't know about: pioneer St. Paul. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn about local history through this lens. But because it lacked any sense of colonial analysis, was poorly written/edited, and at times explicitly racist, I found it difficult to take too seriously at times.

Part of the "poorly written" problem rests in the fact that this author had very few sources to work with. In pioneer Wisconsin Territory, there weren't a whole lot of people writing things down--and when they did, they didn't always store them in such a way that we have access to them today. So the book is missing a lot of the colorful flavor I've read in biographies of people related to other historical murders, like Christopher Marlowe and Vincent Van Gogh. For that I can try to give the benefit of the doubt.

But it was also just poorly written. It detailed the author's research process way too thoroughly when it wasn't necessary to our understanding. For instance, someone made a dying confession after a battle in 1842. So who was there for the battle in 1842? Well, any of these four people could plausibly have been there to hear that dying confession in 1842. But wait, it turns out this person making a dying confession died in a battle in 1841, not 1842. So that renders all the speculating about who could have been there in 1842 moot, because they were nowhere near the battle in 1841. SO WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME ABOUT IT?

Information is not always presented in a way that makes the most narrative sense and it's extremely overwritten in places, spending pages and pages to say things that could be said in a sentence or a paragraph.

The lack of colonial analysis is also extremely troubling. The author presents as a fact that Henry Sibley was one of the two greatest founders of Minnesota. Actually many people now see Henry Sibley as a genocidal maniac who presided over the largest mass execution in American history--of Dakota Indians. So to present as an uncontroversial fact the greatness of Henry Sibley casts the author's perspective in serious doubt.

And in places it was explicitly racist. To convict someone of murder, you need to identify the means, motive, and opportunity. That is, if it's a white murderer, according to Brueggeman. It was a "known fact" that the Dakota would sometimes attack the settlers for no reason, so no motive is necessary. Alternatively: maybe the settlers just didn't know the motive because most of them didn't speak Dakota. Or maybe the Dakota were mad about colonialism, their land being taken, the encroaching genocide of indigenous peoples. JUST MAYBE they had a few things to be upset about.

This book was informational but not a great read, and a troublesome unquestioning perspective of the greatness of settlers. I learned a lot, so for that reason I'm glad I read it, but you probably shouldn't. Ask me about it instead, then read some Howard Zinn.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was unfortunately pretty dry. There are a lot of words (almost 300) to basically shrug and say, "IDK what happened, man." There are dozens of vague, repeated quotes about how bad and mean Phelan was without any concrete evidence of wrongdoings, and it seems that the author has a definite bias towards Phelan's guilt. There's almost 100 words devoted to a completely made-up scenario, seemingly just to fill the space. This is a book that should've been an article.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little dry, lots of details about early settlers in St. Paul, MN. But as a native Minnesotan it was interesting to learn about Edward Phalen who has a lake, park, golf course and other sites named after him. He was described by many as belligerent, unsavory and hard to get along with. He was accused of murdering his colleague, but acquitted. A surprising namesake.

[Susan Kosel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been an article instead of a book. Too much repetition. Should have been edited better.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albeit quite repetitive and circular in places, I wish every history of early Minnesota were as exhaustively thorough and yet openly critical of its own sources as Brueggemann's examination of the mysteries surrounding what was our first legally-defined* murder is. This book is further worthwhile if only to teach oneself that no frontier "history" is uncontested, and how even people who agree on what happened and were present for it, together, in daylight, won't necessarily agree on the details when under supeona, much less later historians, at a remove of decades, working off an oral tradition or otherwise disparate, unaligned, and inadequately indexed sources.



*Because let's be real, killings were happening all the time in the area, of and by the Dakota and of and by whites, just not typically one white private citizen killing another, at least not anywhere it would be found out about. It's only "murder" if the local authority doesn't expect it to happen.

[Tracy Backer · Rating 2 out of 5]

a lot of really interesting history on the beginnings of St. Paul and it was really cool to read about areas that I know about and have driven or walked by. It has made me want to dig a little deeper. I'm not sure if it was because the author was trying to do too much or if it was the way he did it, but it was a very slow read for me.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read like a textbook, which is not what I'm in to.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually found this book really interesting. I wasn't familiar with the story at all and enjoyed all the history that went along with it. There were many (locally) famous people that gave place names in St. Paul and all over Minnesota. I am familiar with several of the locations here but will now look at them in a new light. One thing the book could use is a modern map of St. Paul, as several locations were referenced in modern terms. Even being familiar with St. Paul, I did not know most of those modern street locations.

[Jen Westpfahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very, very thorough look at a little known part of St. Paul history. The non-fiction part of this book could have been about half as long. The same evidence was examined from so many angles that I nearly said "ok, I get it. I'm done with this." The fictionalized account at the end of the book was a smart and well-told addition.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning and ending chapters of the book are very, very interesting for those familiar with St. Paul. The middle tends to drag, but this is because the author engages in a point-by-point analysis of the varying theories of the case. Just stick with it and you will be rewarded at the end.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could benefit from a good editing. Interesting history of St. Paul for those of us who live near the area.

[Gerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time

[Mike Brubaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Detailed research but the story is incredibly slow. I was 50 pages into the book and ready to scream, "kill him already!"

[Kaye Salter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not Minnesota’s older murder and most defiantly not a mystery

[Kevin Bokay]

Interesting story of the guy whose name is on a lot of stuff here in St. Paul.