Fort Jesup, also known as Fort Jesup State Historic Site or Fort Jessup or Fort Jesup State Monument, was built in 1822, 22 miles west of Natchitoches, Louisiana, to protect the United States border with Spain and to return order to the Neutral Strip. Originally named Cantonment Jesup, the fort operated from 1822 until 1846. After the abandonment of the fort in 1846, the United States federal government continued to own the abandoned fort site until the privatization of the site in 1869.