Fort Ellice
| Fort Ellice | |
|---|---|
| in Rupert's Land near the junction of the Assiniboine and Qu'Appelle rivers; Rural Municipality of Ellice, Manitoba, Canada |
|
| Type | trading post |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Hudson's Bay Company |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1831 |
Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post built in 1831 in Rupert's Land near the junction of the Assiniboine and Qu'Appelle rivers. The fort was located in what is now west-central Manitoba, Canada, just east of that province's border with Saskatchewan.
It was an important fort, as it was a major stopping point on the Carlton Trail, which ran from the Red River Colony to Fort Edmonton. (The section leading from Upper Fort Garry to this district was commonly known as the Fort Ellice Trail.)
A second more elaborate structure was built in 1862 by the HBC but its economic life was short-lived as the Company relinquished control of Rupert's Land with the 1870 Deed of Surrender. This deed transferred many HBC rights to the new Canadian national government.
The fort had one more important role to play in history; it acted as a staging point for part of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) force that started at Fort Dufferin and headed west in 1874 to establish law and order in the future provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The fort acted as an NWMP post beginning in 1875.
The fort was named after Edward Ellice, a British merchant and an investor in the Hudson's Bay Company. Fort Ellice in turn gave its name to the Rural Municipality of Ellice in west-central Manitoba and to Ellice Avenue, a major arterial road in Winnipeg.
The property that supports both forts is currently owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Coordinates: 50°24′36″N 101°17′14″W / 50.40992°N 101.28721°W
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