 Sometime before 1683, the French had built "Fort la Galette", a fortified post located on the St. Lawrence River along the northern shore of the river (near present Prescott, Ontario).The fortified post was mainly used as a trading site and was abandoned and reoccupied several times.As the Anglo-Americans continued to expand westward, the French chose a site at the meeting of the Oswegatchie River and the St. Lawrence River to establish a new fort.