In August 1856, the U.S. Army started construction on Fort Bellingham to prevent attacks on the bayside villages of Fairhaven, Sehome and Whatcom. The fort was built by U.S. Army Captain George E. Pickett and Company D of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment sent from Fort Steilacoom. It was constructed on the only open space on the bay that had a spring, a prairie overlooking the bay. A settler, Maria Roberts, had to be evicted to build the fort, but she and her husband were later allowed to build a cabin on the beach. In July 1859, units stationed at the fort were in involved in the Pig War, during and after which parts of the fort were disassembled and transported to the southern tip of San Juan Island, creating "Camp Pickett" later called "Post of San Juan". The fort officially closed in 1863, and in 1868, the Army returned to Mrs. Roberts, who lived there for many years thereafter and farmed the land. The settlement around her property, originally called Lummi, after the local tribe, was later called Marietta. The officer's quarters (that housed Capt. George E. Pickett and his Indian wife) is preserved at 910 Bancroft Street on what was called Peabody Hill, now the Lettered Streets neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington.