A refuge for white settlers during the Indian wars of 1855-1856 stood on this site. George E. Briggs took up a donation land claim in February 1854 and built a cabin of squared logs. He farmed and ran a freight packing operation in 1856. Briggs, then a state legislator, introduced the bill which formed Josephine County from a part of Jackson County. Fort Briggs burned to the ground in 1908.