A fieldstone monument marks the former site of Fort Ellice of the Hudson’s Bay Company, named for company shareholder Edward Ellice, situated in what is now the Rural Municipality of Ellice-Archie.
Built in 1831-1832 at a site overlooking the Assiniboine River valley, about five miles below its confluence with the Qu'Appelle River, the fort was an important trading and provisioning post on the Fort Ellice Trail that connected Winnipeg, Fort Carlton, and Edmonton.
On 15 July 1930, for the 60th anniversary of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation, an unveiling ceremony for a commemorative monument at the site was attended by over 4,000 people, including educator and historian Albert Maurice Pratt, MLA Isaac Bertie Griffiths, MLA John William Pratt, and representatives from the surrounding municipalities.
A plaque attached to the monument reads: “Fort Ellice. Established at Beaver Creek, 1831, by the Hudson’s Bay Co., replacing earlier posts of this and North West Companies. Esperance, 1783, Cuthbert Grant’s House, 1793, Montagne a la Bosse, 1794, Beaver House, about 1817, and others - depots for Indian trade, and pemmican. Rebuilt on this site, 1862, as a strategic point in north west trails and trade.”
At one time under private ownership, in June 2012 the site was purchased from Arthur Benoit Fouillard by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, with plans to make it freely accessible to the public.
Sometime between 2018 and 2022, a monument was erected at the site by the St. Lazare Local of the Manitoba Metis Federation. It commemorates the Metis scouts, guides, bison hunters, and translators who helped to build and operate Fort Ellice.
View of Fort Ellice from the north, 1890. The large building on the right side, with a covered balcony on the second floor over the entrance, is the Chief Factor’s residence.
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Fort Ellice 3.
View of Fort Ellice (1890s)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Fort Ellice 14.
The site of Fort Ellice with a commemorative monument (June 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Fort Ellice commemorative monument (August 2002)
Source: Kurt Dorward
Closeup of plaque on Fort Ellice commemorative monument (October 2022)
Source: Glen Toews
Aerial view of the Fort Ellice site, including monument, with the meandering Assiniboine River in the background (June 2018)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Fort Ellice site including Metis monument (October 2022)
Source: Glen Toews
Metis monument at Fort Ellice site (October 2022)
Source: Glen ToewsSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.41140, W101.28783
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memories of Fort Ellice by A. B. Baird
Manitoba History, Number 54, February 2007Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice (RM of Ellice-Archie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice Cemetery (RM of Ellice-Archie)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice Trail Marker (Lions River Bend Park, Neepawa)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice Trail Marker (Birtle, Municipality of Prairie View)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice Trail Marker (RM of Rosedale)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Ellice Trail Marker (RM of Wallace-Woodworth)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural Museum (Austin, Municipality of North Norfolk)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Marshall-Chambers Park Monument (RM of Yellowhead)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Glacial Lake Agassiz Plaque (Arden, Municipality of Glenella-Lansdowne)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Tanner’s Crossing (Minnedosa)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Third Crossing Monument (Gladstone)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: White Horse Monument (RM of St. Francois Xavier)
Carlton Trail - First Western Highway by Frank Hall
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 14, Number 3, Spring 1969.Historic Sites of Manitoba: Glacial Lake Agassiz Plaque (Arden, Municipality of Glenella-Lansdowne)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
Memorable Manitobans: Arthur Benoit Fouillard (1920-2014)
“Fort Ellice, historic site, is gay and animated scene,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 July 1930, page 9.
Hiking the Heartland: Explore Manitoba on Foot by Prairie Pathfinders, 2007.
“Fort Ellice site sold to Nature Conservancy of Canada,” Manitoba Co-operator, Vol. 70, No. 44, page 25. [1 November 2012]
We thank Kurt Dorward and Glen Toews for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 September 2024
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