It may have been a French military outpost, but was more likely a private residence, trading post, or at most a support station for larger forts in the area.

It was abandoned in 1779 as American settlers rebelled and Great Britain consolidated power in more fortified strongholds.

In late Autumn 1780, a small band of about fourteen Métis from Cahokia, Illinois, under orders from Augustin de La Balme,[2] set out for British-controlled Fort St. Joseph in southwest Michigan, led by Jean-Baptiste Hamelin and Lt. Thomas Brady, a former British officer and Indian Agent who now supported the rebelling Americans.

The raid was timed while local Indians would be away hunting, but La Balme also hoped to create a distraction for his journey up the Wabash River to attack Fort Detroit.

British Lt. Dagreaux Du Quindre, however, learned of the raid and quickly formed a band of loyalist traders and Potawatomi under Chief Anaquiba and his son, Topinabee.

Major DePeyster reported the action 8 January 1781 in a letter to General Henry Watson Powell: