PIKE COUNTY, Mo.– A primitive outpost helped to keep the Black Hawk War from coming to Missouri. A fort was built in June 1832 near what is now St. Francisville in Clark County. The leader of the Pike County militia unit which undertook the job was Adam Mase, a Kentucky leather dealer who had moved to Frankford in 1819.

The garrison originally was called Camp Weaver’s Springs, but Mase renamed it Fort Pike. Rumors persisted that the Sauk tribe leader known as Black Hawk planned to expand his battle against U.S. troops to Missouri, but the fort saw no action. Still, the military saw it as a deterrent against invasion.

Mase and his men returned home on July 18 and Black Hawk surrendered the next month. By September, Fort Pike had been abandoned.

The site later was used as a ferry landing. Today, it is a recreational area maintained by the Missouri Department of Conservation near the old St. Francisville bridge.