Fort Atkinson was established as a temporary camp in 1819 and became a permanent post in 1820 about a half mile southeast of here on the west bank of the Missouri, on the site of Lewis and Clark's council with the Oto and Missouri Indians. Named after its founder, General Henry Atkinson, it was the western-most fort and the largest and strongest outpost above St. Louis, protecting the frontier's developing commerce. From there, troops under the command of Col. Henry Leavenworth moved up the Missouri River in 1823 to punish the Arikara Indians after an attack on William H. Ashley's fur trading party, and members of the garrison ascended the river in 1825 on a mission of peace, taking part in a series of treaties with the Indians. The post was abandoned in 1827, but during its seven years it brought the first school, the first white family life, a library, a sawmill, a brickyard, a grist mill, and large-scale agriculture to the west bank of the Missouri.