Newest Era

The fort, also known as The Lead Mine Fort, is a reconstruction of the original fort that stood here in the 18th Century. The original fort was built in 1778, during the American Revolution to help supply the Continental forces with lead for ammunition. The original fort was built of horizontal logs with a bastion at each corner. It was a cabin fort, with 48 cabins in the initial structure, which helped reinforce the walls. General Daniel Roberdeau organized and paid for the construction.

The area at the Snake River was known for centuries as a favourable fur region. The earliest white men in the region arrived in the years 1810-1812. In 1834, Mr Wyeth from New England founded Fort Hall. Not many years later however, the Hudson Bay Company constructed a rival fort near the junction of Boise River with the Snake. They named the post Fort Boise, its purpose was simply to drive Fort Hall out of business. In 1837 Wyeth sold out to the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1843, the "Great Migration" to the Willamette Valley of Oregon began.

William and Charles Bent, along with Ceran St. Vrain, built the original fort on this site in 1833 to trade with plains Indians and trappers. The adobe fort quickly became the centre of the Bent, St.Vrain Company's expanding trade empire that included Fort St.Vrain to the north and Fort Adobe to the south, along with company stores in Mexico at Taos and Santa Fe. The primary trade was with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians for buffalo robes.