Twin Cities’ Cantienys: A Soldier and a Prodigal Son

 A Swiss-born soldier who served in three armies, Casper O. Cantieny became an early saloonkeeper in Minneapolis.  Known for his good reputation and genial nature in the Twin Cities, he doted on his son, Antony “Tony” Cantieny, who was known to others as “a brutal tough.”  Tony’s violent behavior eventually would lead to a killing and family disgrace and decline. 

Casper Cantieny was born in 1807 at the town of Oberwaltz, Canon Graubuenden, high in the Swiss Alps.  In his youth he served in the Swiss Army during a period of European unrest, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Third Battalion. From there he served in the Papal Army during the conflicts to unify Italy.  He arrived in America about 1859 and soon settled in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. 

With the outbreak of the Civil War, despite being 51 years old, Casper enlisted in the First Minnesota Calvary, mustering in at nearby Fort Snelling, shown right, to serve entirely in Minnesota and the Dakota Territory guarding the frontier against hostile Sioux Indians.  This thrust him into several skirmishes against native forces from June to September 1863.  Mustered out late that year, Cantieny was recorded as serving “with honor.”

By this time Caspar was married, his wife a Swiss-born woman 15 years his junior named Maria B. Von Coray, called “Mary.”   At first working in Minneapolis as a carpenter, Cantieny eventually concluded that selling liquor and beer over the bar was more lucrative.  He opened a saloon in a very auspicious location,  just over the Father Hennepin Avenue Bridge spanning the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and St. Paul.  Shown below, the supports were made in the image of a Medieval castle and led straight to Cantieny’s drinking establishment. 

 

Canthieny’s saloon can be seen at the far left of the photo above.  Enlarged, it is pictured here.  The building looks like something out of a Wild West town, with a false front.  The proprietor who had carpentry skills may have been his own builder.  As many saloonkeeper families did, the Canthienys lived upstairs, accessing their quarters from a stairway at one side.  The saloon interior would have been simple and spare, with a bar along one wall, topped by a mirror and a potbellied stove in a corner.  Mary may have assisted with the cooking and Casper serving drinks from behind the bar.

Although Casper had a reputation as a genial host, something essential to a successful publican, his third child, Anthony/Tony, was a wayward boy, sent to reform school when he was 14 and subsequently in and out of scrapes with the law.  Incarceration, however, failed to bring reform.  Events came to a head on a July night in 1884.  After finishing a shift at the saloon, the 26-year old Tony headed out with buddies to visit some after-hours bars.  He was armed with a loaded pistol that had been given to him by a customer as collateral for drinks until payday.  

Soon drunk, the roisterers attracted the attention of Officer Laughlin, a policeman they apparently had encountered before.  They began hectoring him, leading to a confrontation.  When Laughlin tried to arrest the young men, they ran away, with the policeman in pursuit.  At some point in the chase, according to press accounts, Tony turned and yelled:  “You can’t arrest me you son of a bitch,” and fired wildly.  A bullet caught Laughlin in the midsection and felled him.  Young Canthieny threw the gun into a nearby creek and headed home.  Meanwhile the officer in his dying moments identified Tony as his assailant and the youth was soon arrested.

Although Tony assumed a “tough guy” demeanor as he was hauled off to jail, his arrest sparked a vigilante mob of young men, some of whom may have been bullied by the saloonkeeper’s son in the past. They gathered at the jail demanding that Tony be hanged then and there.  Although they rushed the building, breaking down the doors, a reinforced police force was able to keep him from the mob.  When further violence seemed immanent the mayor of Minneapolis called on the state militia to restore order.  Tony was spirited to a jail across the river in St. Paul where his trial was held seven months later.

The St. Paul Globe of March 3, 1885, provided an account of the courtroom scene, describing Tony as having a prison pallor, clean shaven and neatly dressed in a blue suit.  “Just behind him is his father, Casper Cantieny, the saloon-keeper.  He is a man nearly 70 years old, but seems to have borne his life easily.  The family resemblance between father and son is noticeable….The courtroom was filled with spectators and within the railings were many attorneys.”

Because Cathieny pere was able to secure a good lawyer, Tony pleaded “self-defense,” alleging Laughlin fired first.  He was convict of second-degree manslaughter, not murder, and sentenced to seven years in Minnesota’s Stillwell Prison, shown above.  Immediately Casper, ever the doting father, began working to secure his son’s release, spending large sums on lawyers.  He finally persuaded Minnesota’s governor to commute the sentence and Tony was released in 1888 after serving four years.  Doing time this time appears to have had a chastening effect.  “I never should have done it if I had been sober,” he told the awaiting press outside the prison.

The fortunes of the Cathieny family, however, had been changed unalterably.  Even before Tony was jailed, Casper had been notified by local officials that he would have to move from his highly desirable location at the bridge.  His saloon was torn down to become the site of the Minneapolis Union Station, shown here. Cathieny moved to several locations downtown during ensuing years; his last saloon and residence was at 815 Washington Avenue North.  Well into his eighties when he died in 1896, Casper reputedly was still working behind the bar.

As an old soldier and a charter member of the Minneapolis G.A.R., Canthieny received a rousing send-off.  After a funeral Mass at St. Joseph German Catholic Church, his body was carried to the East Side Catholic (St. Anthony) Cemetery, followed by a crowd of friends. There a flag-carrying honor guard paraded and the Sons of Veterans. Camp No. 4, fired off a salute as Casper was lowered into the ground, Sec. 93, Lot 8. 

Meanwhile Tony Cantieny was attempting to establish himself in Minneapolis, a task that likely proved difficult given his reputation around town as a “cop killer” who had gotten off lightly.  A saloon he operated not far from his father’s original quarters apparently failed.  Subsequently he moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where presumably his reputation was relatively unknown.  He married and started a family.  

An older brother, Anton Cantieny, was living in Fargo, arriving in 1879, first operating a restaurant and oyster house.  Ten years later he opened the Hotel Cantieny.  At the time the hotel and bar opened, the following notice was printed in the June 4, 1889 Fargo Daily Argus:  “A. Cantieny, long known as one of the most enterprising men in Fargo, has taken possession of the Webster building, 501 Northern Pacific Avenue, and is dispensing the "beautiful ardent" to the boys. Tony is behind the bar and everyone is assured of the finest treatment and most gentlemanly service.”  “Tony” was the prodigal son, now rehabilitated.  After Anton died, he married his brother's widow.

Tony Canthieny died of natural causes in 1907 at the relatively young age of 46, and was buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Fargo.  His gravestone is located in the Southpark Section, Block 7.  Thus ended the saga of Casper Cathieny, a man remembered as a “honored comrade and brave soldier” whose later life was marred by his intense fatherly devotion to a wayward son.

Note:  The idea for this post came from the book “Closing Time: Saloons. Taverns, Dives, and Watering Holes of the Twin City.”  Written by Bill Lindeke and Andy Sturdevant, the book is an interesting survey of the drinking scene in Minneapolis and St.Paul past and present — and a recommended read.  Information there has been enhanced by newspaper stories, genealogy sites, and other sources.