In the many years before European settlement, the lands around Neepawa were primarily used by the Cree and the Assiniboine. Native peoples in the area followed a regular cycle by following the Plains Bison to take shelter in the areas north of Neepawa in the winter, and then heading south again across the plains and beyond Neepawa in the summer. The town name of Neepawa comes from the Cree word for "Land of Plenty", the name was first used around 1873. Prior to settlement, the only Europeans in the area were primarily fur traders, many people made their way through the area on the North Fort Ellice Trail which went from the Red River to Edmonton. It was on this trail that a group of settlers from Listowel, Ontario eventually decided to settle in 1877, where the Stony and Boggy creeks meet.