Starting with the arrival of the Tonquin and foundation of Fort Astoria in March 1811, the American Pacific Fur Company (PFC) gradually established a commercial presence along the Columbia River.
On November 23, 1812, William Wallace and John C. Halsley led fourteen men from Fort Astoria to the valley to find a suitable area for a trading post.
The returned trappers proved to be taxing on Astoria's small food supplies so some of the men were ordered to the Wallace House.
Their commercial rivals, the North West Company (NWC), based at their New Caledonian posts such as Fort St. James in the interior of modern British Columbia.
Throughout 1813 and 1814, trappers who operated out of Wallace House included Thomas McKay, Étienne Lucier, Alexander Ross and Donald McKenzie.