The Township of Monclova lies partly upon the Maumee River at the head of the Rapids, and is included in the oldest settled sections of the Maumee Valley. According to tradition, the French built a Stockade and established a Trading-post with the Indians at the Rapids of the Maumee as early as 1680. However that may be, it is quite probable that French traders and adventurers from Raisin or Detroit occupied the site of the Rapids before the British built Fort Miami.