Established in 1817 near the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, the first fort at this site was among the earliest U.S. military posts in Missouri Territory. The fort's purpose was to control the encroachment into Osage lands by both the Cherokee and westward moving American settlers. The second fort, begun in 1838 a short distance from the site of the first, was garrisoned until the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas moved to the town of Fort Smith in 1871.

Information provided by the National Registry of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service