Growing white settlement in Florida and federal policy of relocating Indian tribes west of the Mississippi helped spark the outbreak of the 2nd Seminole War in 1835. In 1838, as Major General Thomas Jesup sought to control the coasts and campaign in the heart of Seminole lands, Captain B.L.E. Bonneville established Fort Denaud as one of a series of posts linking American operations south of Tampa to the east coast. Built on the south bank of the Caloosahatchee River 27 miles from Fort Myers on land owned by Pierre Danaud, a French Indian trader, the fort consisted of tents with a blockhouse in their midst. It served as a supply depot for troops in the Lake Okeechobee area and was used intermittently until the war ended in 1842. Reopened in 1855 soon after the outbreak of the 3rd Seminole War, it gained company quarters, a hospital, guardhouse, sutler's store, and stables. After a fire ravaged the post in June 1856, another site on the north bank of the river one mile west was chosen a few months later. The fort was abandoned in May 1858, and it gave its name to the nearby community of Fort Denaud.