Adjacent to the fort, a trading post for furs was a key supply point for Euro-American-Native American commerce and exchange.

They promptly notified the commander of Fort St. Joseph, a British strongpoint located approximately 40 miles (65 km) northeast by canoe.

Ft. St. Joseph's British commander, Charles Roberts, determined to recruit Native allies and assault Mackinac Island.

With a single sailing vessel and a flotilla of war canoes, the expeditionary force arrived on the north shore of Mackinac Island on the night of July 16–17, 1812.

The sailing vessel had brought one or more light cannon, which were wrestled ashore at British Landing and hauled up through the interior of the Island to a location above Fort Mackinac.