Colonel Hugh Brady established Fort Brady at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan Territory in 1822 to guard against British incursions from Canada.
The garrison at the fort protected exclusive American sovereignty over the northern frontier. Despite several treaties with the British clearly establishing American sovereignty over Michigan Territory, British forces made occasional to frequent incursions from Canada until the American military presence counteracted their influence over the region. To enhance actual American control of the northwestern frontier against these incursions, especially in the wake of the War of 1812 against the British, the War Department decided to establish several forts along the Great Lakes. In 1820, Lewis Cass, governor of Michigan Territory, negotiated the cession of sixteen square miles along the Saint Mary's River (connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron) from the Chippewa Nation. In summer 1822, Colonel Hugh Brady led a garrison to construct and occupy this fort.
The success of Colonel Hugh Brady at this mission earned him a promotion to brigadier general. Army Meteorological Register summarizes weather observations that the Post Surgeon took from 1823. The fort featured a large garden, a cemetery, and large stores of wood for heating during the brutal Michigan winters. The soldiers interacted with the townspeople of Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. No further armed conflict against the British ultimately occurred in the region, and the Army ultimately abandoned the original Fort Brady.
The Army established a second Fort Brady nearby in 1866. Protection of state locks and canals formed the center of its mission.
The Army later established a third New Fort Brady in 1893 at nearby but different location. Two thousand troops passed through the fort for training during the Spanish-American War of 1898. During World War II, twenty thousand troops lived at Fort Brady, necessitating various temporary and not-so-temporary construction of habitations and facilities.
In 1944, even before the end of World War II, however, the Army decided to close the fort as surplus. The Army gave this fort to the state in 1946 for a new campus of a state University, now Lake Superior State University.