The fort's location was chosen not only because of its proximity to the site of Red Bird's surrender in the Winnebago War, but also because of the strategic importance of the portage on the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a heavily traveled connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.

"The Portage" was a land bridge just 1 1/4 miles wide separating waterways that flow into the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.

Centuries before Europeans arrived, they traversed the 2700-pace footpath between the rivers and recognized it as an important travel route.

"here was necessity for some means of protection to the fur trade from Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) exactions; ... the general government at the solicitation of John Jacob Astor, who was then at the head of the American Fur Company, and upon whose goods the Indians levied tariffs and tolls, authorized the erection of a post at portage.

The building now known as "the Surgeons Quarters" was built in 1824 by Francois Le Roi[6][failed verification] and Therese L'Ecuyer, a Métis.

It is one of the oldest French colonial log homes in Wisconsin still standing on its original foundation and is the only remaining building of the historic Fort Winnebago, which was active from 1828 through 1845.

[16] Juliette later wrote a book about the couple's experiences during this time entitled 'Wau-Bun, the "Early Day" in the Northwest'.