In the 1850s, Joe Rolette, one of the colorful promoters of trade between British Assiniboia and St. Paul, established a trading house at the Old Crossing. Rolette also proposed to establish a city named "Douglas" at the same location. Rolette's compatriots in the Minnesota state legislature actually designated Douglas the county seat of Polk County in 1858. This designation was quickly withdrawn when the Ojibwe, who had been contesting the Dakota Sioux for hunting rights in the vicinity over many decades, refused to grant permission for a ferry or a town in their territory.