Editing Prescott, Ontario (section)

===French period===
{{See also|Fort de La Présentation|Fort Lévis}}

[[File:1760 French map depicting Fort de Levis near Prescott Ontario.jpg|thumb|left|1760 French map depicting Fort de Levis near Prescott, Ontario]]
Before the arrival of Europeans to the [[Grenville County, Ontario|Grenville County]] area, it was inhabited by the [[St. Lawrence Iroquois]]. The [[French people|French]] began occupation of the area in the late 17th century, starting with a supply depot and fortified outpost named La Galette en route to [[Fort Frontenac]] ([[Kingston, Ontario|Kingston]]),<ref name="twpec.ca">{{cite web |url=http://www.twpec.ca/and-more/about-the-township/ |title=About the Township |website=twpec.ca |publisher=Township of Edwardsburgh-Cardinal |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180224222213/http://www.twpec.ca/and-more/about-the-township/ |archivedate=24 February 2018 |accessdate=26 March 2021}}</ref> which was built in the 1670s.<ref name=grenville-history>{{cite web |url=http://www.grenvillecountyarchives.ca/history.html |title=Grenville County History |publisher=Grenville County Historical Society |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> Some sources place La Galette at Prescott,<ref>{{cite book |title=Documents relative to the colonial history of the state of New York |volume=9 |editor-first=Edmund Bailey |editor-last=O'Callaghan |date=1853 |location=Albany, New York |publisher=Weed, Parsons and Company |url=https://archive.org/details/documentsrelativ09brod |page=195}}</ref> while others place it at neighbouring [[Johnstown, Ontario|Johnstown]].<ref name=grenville-history /> [[Fort de La Présentation]] was later built in 1749 on the other side of the river, at Lighthouse Point near present-day [[Ogdensburg, New York]]. This was soon abandoned in favour of [[Fort Lévis]], which was located on Isle Royale (Chimney Island) in the centre of the river.

The area became a battleground during the 1754−1763 [[French and Indian War]] between [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and [[France]], as both parties wanted to control what was a strategic stretch of the Saint Lawrence River. This led to the 1760 [[Battle of the Thousand Islands]] when a 10,000-strong British–Iroquois force besieged the French at Fort Lévis. Despite a spirited defence by the 300-strong French garrison, the British took the fort after an extensive artillery [[bombardment]]. Afterward, the British occupied the fort, renaming it Fort William Augustus,<ref name=fort1749>{{cite web |url=https://fort1749.org/fort-history/ |title=Fort History |website=Fort de la Presentation |date=January 15, 2019 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> though they soon abandoned it in favour of the older Fort de La Présentation, which they renamed Fort Oswegatchie.<ref name=fort1749 /> The ruins of Fort Lévis, and the island the fort stood on, were later submerged during the creation of the [[Saint Lawrence Seaway]].