 With Alexander Ramsey ( W ) as the first governor of Minnesota Territory and Henry Hastings Sibley ( D ) as the territorial delegate to the United States Congress , the populations of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony swelled . Henry M. Rice ( D ) , who replaced Sibley as the territorial delegate in 1853 , worked in Congress to promote Minnesota interests . He lobbied for the construction of a railroad connecting Saint Paul and Lake Superior , with a link from Saint Paul to the Illinois Central . 
