Near this spot on February 7, 1854, twenty-five men organized in military order and began building a small fort for protection from the Indians. Its rock walls were seven feet high and almost two feet thick, and they formed the outer wall of the homes of thirty-nine families. The fort enclosed one and one-half acres of land, with a gate on the west side, a Post Office in the south, and a Tithing Office in the northwest corner. It was completed in March 1854.