After the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), which stripped New France of the territories of Newfoundland, Acadia and Hudson Bay, the French sought access to the furs in the North and the West. A portage area and a trading centre existed in the Niagara region, between the extension of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie toward the Detroit post. The Iroquois, who controlled it, continued to respect the neutrality agreement signed in Montréal in 1701. Having already given the English permission to build Fort Oswego in 1725, they allowed the French to establish a settlement nearby. To consolidate their good relationship with the Iroquois, the Governor General and the Intendant decided to offer them high-quality goods in exchange for their pelts. A trading post was established at Niagara in 1726-1727. The goal was to eliminate the need of the Aboriginal peoples to have to travel to Montréal and to remove the temptation to sell their furs in Albany. This post also had to protect the colony from enemy attack.

Niagara
Propositions a faire a la Cour pour lui faire connoître la conséquence de prendre possession au plutôt de Niagara, Et de prevenir les Anglois qui en ont le dessein, Car s'ils en étoient les maitres, ils barreroient le passage et nous empêcheroient La Communication avec nos sauvages allies, et les attireroient a eux par leur Commerce aussi bien que les Iroquois Et les disposeoient quand ils voudroient a la guerre contre nous ce qui désoleroit le Canada, et nous contraindroit de l'abandonner [Propositions to be made to the Court to convey to it the consequence of taking immediate possession of Niagara, And of preventing the English from fulfilling their plan to do so, For if they were its masters they would block passage and prevent Communication with our savage allies, and would attract them with their Commerce as well as the Iroquois And when they wished would dispose them to war against us which would devastate Canada, and oblige us to abandon it], October 28, 1706
FR CAOM COL C11A 25 fol. 298-301