 The <unk> ( general store operator ) at Fort Snelling , Franklin Steele , who had established lumbering interests in the area , staked a claim to lands adjacent to Saint Anthony Falls following the land <unk> of the 1837 <unk> treaty . In 1848 he built a sawmill at the falls establishing the basis of the town of Saint Anthony which grew there . John H. Stevens , an employee of Franklin Steele , pointed out that land on the west side of the falls would make a good site for future mills . Since the land on the west side was still part of the military reservation , Stevens made a deal with Fort Snelling 's commander . Stevens would provide free ferry service across the river in exchange for a tract of 160 acres ( 0 @.@ 65 km2 ) at the head of the falls . Stevens received the claim and built a house , the first house in Minneapolis , in 1850 . Later in 1854 , Stevens <unk> the city of Minneapolis on the west bank . In 1855 the first bridge across the main channel of the Mississippi ( anywhere in the nation ) was built between Minneapolis and Saint Anthony . 
