Fort Conti was built in early 1679 at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario as a post for the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.
The fort was named after Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti, the patron of La Salle's lieutenant, Henri de Tonti.
The storehouse and stockade were used as a shifting point for ships coming from Fort Frontenac (modern day Kingston, Ontario); the supplies would then be further shipped by canoes or bateaux up the river to current day Lewiston, New York, portaged up the Niagara Escarpment and carried past Niagara Falls to a place where the swift currents would not endanger the supplies, craft or crew.
[citation needed]) La Salle built a larger boat (most likely a reassembled boat taken apart at Fort Conti[citation needed]), and christened it Le Griffon and used her for the exploration of the river and Lake Erie in his search for a passage to the East Indies.
The site is now operated by a not-for-profit corporation within Fort Niagara State Park in the town of Porter, just north of Youngstown, New York.