Fort Carondelet

[3] Although archaeological remains of the fort and its buildings were extant in 1874,[4] a congregation known as the Church of Israel (affiliated with the Christian Identity movement) has occupied the site since the 1940s.

[7] Before the fort was built, Miro was replaced as Spanish governor general by Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet.

Carondelet was informed that the fur trader, Auguste Chouteau, would financially support the construction of the fort as a replacement for his temporary trading post along the Osage River.

[9][10] In a letter to Carondelet, Chouteau described the proposed fort buildings in detail: The said stronghold is to be composed of two parts: The first shall be of brick or stone and the second of logs ten inches square laid horizontally one upon the other, as the Americans practice.

All the woodwork shall be sustained by four posts, set at equal intervals in the interior of the edifices, on which the beam shall rest to insure greater solidity.

The stairway to upper story shall be solid and well conditioned; there shall be on each side of second story, ten loop-holes for guns feet over the floor, and two at the extremities of the lower sides at a height of six feet, so that they can be used by mounting on a chair without danger of the enemy being able to insert guns to fire into the lower story.Given his desire for peace with the Osage, Carondelet accepted Chouteau's proposal.

[2] During the transfer of the Louisiana territory to the possession of the United States in 1804, Auguste Chouteau was employed by Spain to remove any remaining Spanish property from the fort.

The last report of the fort's existence derives from an 1874 Missouri travel guidebook relating the physical characteristics of Vernon County.

[19] In the early 20th century, Halley's Bluff (and the site of the fort) became the possession of a Mormon group that eventually separated from the Church of Christ (Temple Lot).