The fort was purchased by the State Park and Forest commission in 1930 and added to the Fort Shantok State Park, increasing the park to 160 acres. The area was declared a
National Historic Landmark in 1993. The district is located within the
Mohegan Indian Reservation just west of the
Thames River and south of the
Mohegan Sun casino off
Route 2A. The fort was used as a burial ground and contains over one hundred identified graves. The Mohegans decided not to build on the land or further develop it in order to preserve the land's history. The Archaeological Consulting Services offered to preserve eight acres of the two tribal sites, but the tribe decided to preserve all the property instead. provided reprovisions. At this point, the Narragansetts abandoned the siege and returned home. There is a memorial in the shape of a wigwam known as the Leffingwell Memorial in the fort, the inscription stating, "Here stood the fort of Uncas Sachem of the Mohegans and friend of the English; here in 1645 when by the Narragansetts he was relieved by the bravery of Lt. T. I. Leffingwell." It is one of the few places where Native American
ceramics have been preserved in southern New England in any state, due to the area's highly acidic soil, climate, and colonial construction. These ceramics have been used in an attempt by archeologists to determine migration patterns in local New England tribes, such as the Pequots. ==See also==