Fort Ellice was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post that operated from 1794 to 1892.
A second more elaborate structure was built in 1862 by the HBC, and in 1873, replaced Fort Pelly as the headquarters for the Swan River District.
[2] But its economic life was short-lived as the Company relinquished control of Rupert's Land with the 1870 Deed of Surrender.
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.
In 1890, the Hudson's Bay Company sold the property to Thomas V. Wheeler, who conducted private business there until 1892.