Fort Jackson (Alabama)

Fort Toulouse and Fort Jackson are two forts that shared the same site at the fork of the Coosa River and the Tallapoosa River, near Wetumpka, Alabama.

Fort Toulouse was a stockade built by the French in 1717. It was replaced by a better-built fort of the same name in 1735, a bit further back from river erosion. Fort Toulouse served as a trading post with the Creek Indians until the end of the French & Indian War in 1763. With the French loss of that conflict, the French garrison spiked their cannons and left for both New Orleans and a return to France. The British victors chose not to occupy the Fort, and it eventually collapsed into decay.

During the War of 1812, "Red Stick" Creek Indians of northern Alabama and Georgia attacked white settlements and killed over 400 settlers at Fort Mims. In the resulting Creek War, General Andrew Jackson commanded the combined American forces of Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee and Southern Creek “White Stick” Indians. Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, and afterwards initiated construction of a fort atop the site of the old French fort at the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. The fort was intentionally built near the sacred Creek site known as the Hickory Ground. Jackson then temporarily traveled to Washington and in his absence, the fort was named “Jackson” in his honor. After Jackson’s return, he imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both the Northern Creek enemies and the Southern Creek allies, wresting 20,000,000 acres (8,100,000 ha) from all Creeks for white settlement.

The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

During the American Bicentennial in the mid-1970s an attempt was made to reconstruct Fort Toulouse, however the replica was incorrectly built upon the outline of the much larger Fort Jackson.