Description from Geographical Names of Manitoba, Manitoba Conservation, c. 2000:
Fort Ellice: Historic site south of Russell. A former Hudson's Bay Company fort located on 33-16-28W and shown on Thompson map (1858) in the area between Beaver Creek and the Qu'Appelle and Assiniboine Rivers. It was established in 1831, abandoned in 1889 and was named after the Right Honourable Edward Ellice (1781-1863), a prominent officer in the Hudson's Bay Company nicknamed "Bear" due to his connection with the fur trade (Douglas 1933). He advocated the union of the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company and was active in bringing it about. He served as Deputy Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1858 until his death in 1863. This fort was an important trading post and stopping place along the Carleton Trail from Winnipeg via Fort Carleton to Edmonton (Rudnyckyj 1970). Fort Ellice was built on a plateau overlooking the Assiniboine River near Beaver Creek - in fact the fort was sometimes called Beaver Creek Post. About 1862 it moved 1 mile east to its familiar location above the Assiniboine River. Trade declined in 1862, and discontinued soon after 1869 (Voorhis 1930). Fort Ellice replaced several earlier Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company posts including Beaver Creek (Douglas 1933). A Hudson's Bay Company map (1882) showed a plan of Colville as a subdivision of part of the Hudson's Bay Company's reserve at Fort Ellice. The community was laid out extending west and north of the fort.
Fort Ellice [Post Office]: South of Russell. A former Post Office that opened in 1879 on 33-16-28W and closed in 1915. A provincial government map (1893) showed the Post Office on the south bank of the Qu'Appelle River, about two and one-quarter miles south of the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Ellice and named after it. The postal guide of 1889, however, listed the Post Office on 33-16-28W, the same location as the fort.
Ellice: Rural Municipality south of Russell. GBC [Geographic Board of Canada] correspondence (1905) indicated it was named after Fort Ellice, a Hudson's Bay Company post in the municipality. See Fort Ellice entry.
Bibliography References Above:
Douglas, R. - 1933, Place Names of Manitoba. Geographic Board of Canada, Department of the Interior, Ottawa.
Rudnyckyj, J.B. - 1970, Manitoba Mosaic of Placenames. Canadian Institute of Onomastic Studies, Winnipeg.
Voorhis, E. - 1930, Historic Forts and Trading Posts of the French Regime and of the English Fur Trading Companies. Department of the Interior, Natural Resources Intelligence Service, Ottawa.
