Fort Toulouse Fort Toulouse ( also called Franca choka chula , Fort des Alibamons and Fort Toulouse des Alibamons ) is a historic fort near the city of Wetumpka , Alabama , United States , that is now maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission . The French founded the fort in 1717 , naming it for Louis - Alexandre de Bourbon , comte de Toulouse . In order to counter the growing influence of the British colonies of Georgia and Carolina , the government of French Louisiana erected a fort on the eastern border of the Louisiana Colony in what is now the state of Alabama . History . The fort was also referred to as the Post of the Alabama , named after the Alabama Tribe of Upper Creek Indians , who resided just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the Alabama River . The number of troops in garrison varied between 20 to 50 French Colonial Marines . Living and working at the fort , the Marines traded extensively with the local Creek Native Americans and cultivated friendly relations with them . The French would trade European goods such as Flintlock guns , ammunition , and gunpowder , iron tools , knives , glass beads , copper pots , and wool blankets in exchange for local food stuffs , fur and deerskins . According to tradition , the French commander Captain Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand married the high - status Creek woman Sehoy in about 1720 . Later generations of Sehoy ' s descendants include the Creek chiefs Alexander McGillivray , and William Weatherford , who inherited their status in the matrilineal tribe from their mothers ' clans . Due to the poor living conditions at the fort , which was neglected by the French government , the troops mutinied in 1722 . They killed Captain Marchand and captured the other officers , tying them before leaving the fort . The imprisoned officers managed to escape , and with the help of nearby Creek , they captured the mutineers and sent them to Fort Conde in Mobile for punishment . By the early 1740s , conditions had improved at the fort . Many soldiers had married French women from Mobile or intermarried with the local Creek . They and other settlers developed numerous farms nearby , which led to improved food supplies . The humid climate caused deterioration of the fort by the late 1740s , and the French planned for a third fort to be built . Under the direction of Captain Francois Saucier , soldiers finished the reconstruction of Fort Toulouse about 1751 . It cost nearly half of the military budget for the whole Louisiana colony . In 1763 the Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War . As the French had been defeated by the British and ceded their territory , the French garrison spiked their cannons and left for New Orleans and eventual return to France for some . The British chose not to occupy the Fort , which eventually collapsed into decay . In 1776 the naturalist William Bartram noted visiting the area while studying local flora and fauna . During the War of 1812 and the simultaneous Creek War , General Andrew Jackson encamped his troops on the site of the old Fort Toulouse . He ordered construction of a larger fort , which was named Fort Jackson by General Joseph Graham in honor of Jackson ' s victories against the Creek and in the Battle of New Orleans . Modern era . The site was declared a National Historic Landmark by the Department of Interior in 1960 . Fort Toulouse - Fort Jackson State Historic Site . During the American Bicentennial , local groups supported reconstruction of Fort Toulouse . But , the replica was incorrectly built upon the outline of the much larger Fort Jackson rather than the historic French fort . In the 1980s the park was acquired by the Alabama Historical Commission . It dismantled the incorrect replica and constructed a replica of Fort Toulouse near its original site . This will allow for a future reconstruction of Ft . Jackson on its site ( occupied successively by the two forts ) . Archeological excavations have been continuing at the site , supervised by Dr . Craig Sheldon of Auburn University at Montgomery . The Fort Toulouse - Fort Jackson State Historic Site has living history programs to portray and interpret the lives of the Creek inhabitants , the French colonists and the US military troops associated with the War of 1812 . The fort is located southwest of Wetumpka , off of U . S . Highway 231 .