In 1686, French explorer Nicholas Perrot established Fort St. Antoine on the shores of Lake Pepin, an expansive stretch of the Mississippi River. Intended as a fortified trading post, the fort helped forge alliances and expand the French fur trade with the Dakota and other local tribes. On May 8, 1689, Perrot held a ceremony at the fort to formally claim the entire Upper Mississippi Valley for France. However, due to conflict in the region and the fort’s crude construction, it was abandoned around 1690. No physical trace of the fort remains today, but its location is commemorated by Wisconsin State Historical Marker 22 along the Great River Road, overlooking scenic Lake Pepin.