 By sometime in the late 1600s the mound was abandoned by its original builders and lay dormant in use until the area was reinhabited by white settlers in the mid 19th century.The Confederate soldiers established "Camp Walton" at the base of Fort Walton Mound in 1861 during the Civil War to guard Santa Rosa Sound and Choctawhatchee Bay.As with many of Florida's mound structures, the Fort Walton Mound was first excavated by antiquarians and amateur archaeologists.