Editing Palliser's Triangle (section)

== History ==
Before [[Colonialism|Western European interests and settlement]] expanded to the region, Palliser's Triangle was inhabited by a variety of [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada| Indigenous peoples]], such as the [[Cree]], [[Sioux]], and the [[Blackfoot Confederacy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_plains1.html|title=The Plains People - Groups in this Region|website=firstpeoplesofcanada.com|access-date=2018-03-28}}</ref> Their lifestyle was centred around the [[American bison|buffalo]] hunt, as the bountiful herds of buffalo made this a sustainable and effective means of feeding themselves, the meat of which was used to make [[pemmican]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_plains3.html|title=The Plains People - Food / Hunting / Tools|website=firstpeoplesofcanada.com|access-date=2018-03-28}}</ref> By the mid-1850s, however, the hunt had become an economic venture, their hides and meat sold by [[Métis in Canada|Métis]] and [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] hunters to the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC), and the increased demand led to a decline in herds.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life|last=Daschuk|first=James|publisher=University of Regina Press|year=2013|isbn=9780889773400|pages=65}}</ref>

In the middle of the 19th century, a large variety of factors contributed to an increase in Canadian expansionism, and eyes fell upon what would become western Canada for this purpose given that the cold and uncultivatable [[Canadian Shield]] was found in the north whereas the expanding [[United States]] controlled the south. This [[Manifest destiny|American expansionism]] also drove Canadian expansionism due to the fear that the United States would look north and lay claim to the land before they could. With this said, it became apparent that no sources existed that had a full and reliable assessment of the land. While the HBC had a working knowledge of the land inasmuch as it was useful to their end and business interests, it was insufficient to the needs of the Canadian government. In addition, the HBC was hesitant to share information about the land they controlled for the sake of protecting their [[monopoly]] in the region. Even the [[Royal Geographical Society]] was uninformed about the North West. All the above drove the United Kingdom and the Dominion of Canada to organize the [[Palliser expedition|Palliser]] and [[Henry Youle Hind|Hind]] expeditions, respectively,<ref name=":1" /> especially since the 1840s discovery that [[latitude]] alone did not determine [[climate]], which in turn suggested that good farmland may exist in the region.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://marcialalonde.weebly.com/uploads/9/3/8/2/9382401/hp_expeditions_reading.pdf|title=Hind and Palliser expeditions: 1857-1860|website=Ms. Lalonde's Website|publisher=The Critical Thinking Cooperative}}</ref>

The area was named after [[John Palliser]], the leader of the aforementioned British Palliser expedition into Western Canada from 1857 to 1859.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/palliser_and_hind_expeditions.html |title=The Encyclopedia Saskatchewan - The Palliser and Hind Expeditions |access-date=2011-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727205625/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/palliser_and_hind_expeditions.html |archive-date=2014-07-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The expedition had the objective of spending two or three seasons:
#''In examining "the region along the Southern frontier of our territories, between the parallels of 49° and 53° north latitude, and from 100° to 115° west longitude" with a view to surveying "the watershed between the basins of the Missouri and the Saskachewan [sic]; also the course of the south branch of the Saskachewan and its tributaries; and... the actual line of the frontier, on the parallel of 49°";''
#''In exploring "the Rocky Mountains, for the purpose of ascertaining the most southerly pass across to the Pacific, within the British Territory" since the well-known [[Athabasca Landing Trail|Athabasca Portage]] was too far north and "totally useless" for horses;''
#''In reporting on "the natural features and general capabilities of the country" and mapping it. The R.G.S. also advised that scientific assistants should accompany Palliser.<ref name=":1" />''
The expeditions came to the conclusion that what would become western Canada was divided into three regions: a northern [[Taiga|cold zone]] that was inhospitable to agriculture, Palliser's Triangle towards the south<ref name=":3" /> which Palliser characterized as an extension of the American Great Plains which he described as being "a more or less arid" desert and thus unsuitable for crops<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /> albeit acceptable for livestock given the “dry climate, sandy soil, and extensive grass cover,"<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wdm.ca/skteacherguide/WDMResearch/SkWeather_Climate_Soils.pdf|title=The story of Palliser's Triangle, the structure of Saskatchewan soils, the reality of Saskatchewan weather|last=McInnise|first=Amy|date=May 2004|website=Western Development Museum|pages=3, 6|access-date=March 3, 2018}}</ref> and [[Aspen parkland|a rich fertile belt]] in the middle that was ideally suited to agriculture and settlement,<ref name=":3" /> the existence of which was confirmed by both Palliser, and Henry Youle Hind, of Hind Expedition fame. They both argued against settling within the arid body of the Triangle. This changed perceptions of the region: previously seen as untamed wilderness, the British Canadian public began to see potential farmland in the Triangle.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=The Prairie West as Promised Land|last=Owram|first=Doug|publisher=University of Calgary Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1552382301|location=Calgary, Alberta|pages=7–16}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Spry|first=Irene M.|date=June 1959|title=Captain John Palliser and the Exploration of Western Canada|jstor=1790499|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=125|issue=2|pages=151–156, 167|doi=10.2307/1790499}}</ref> The prospect of an ample supply of fertile land lit a fire under Canadian expansionists, and the Canadian government started to buy up HBC land in the region as they were under pressure to ensure that it would be Canadians who settled the North West, not Americans. This began with the purchase of [[Rupert's Land]] for £300,000. This wellspring of expansionism came with the idea of a "Canadian Empire" of which the North West was a part of, in defiance of the idea that these lands were those of the [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] and [[Métis in Canada|Métis]] who inhabited them at the time.<ref name=":3" />

In this period of expansionism, one prominent figure advocating homesteading in the North West was botanist [[John Macoun]]. He undertook expeditions alongside Sir [[Sanford Fleming]] in the 1880s during which he had the chance to look at the ostensibly uncultivatable Palliser's Triangle. It turns out that Palliser saw the region in a state of drought during which ample buffalo herds were grazing the grass shorter. He also bore witness to a number of grass fires, all of which gave the impression of an inhospitable desert. Macoun, on the other hand, found the region in a major wet period after a severe decline in animal life in no small part due to the overhunting of bison. This skewed his perspective to the exact opposite of Palliser's assessment: where Palliser could be said to have underestimated the agricultural capacity of the Triangle, Macoun could be said to have overestimated it, as evidenced by both the region's production and its frequent and sometimes devastating droughts.

With Macoun's assessment in hand, the Canadian government undertook an advertising campaign to encourage European immigration to western Canada,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://manitobamuseum.ca/main/john-macoun-the-botanist-who-changed-the-map-of-western-canada/|title=John Macoun: The Botanist Who Changed the Map of Western Canada |website = The Manitoba Museum|language=en-US|date = 4 January 2016|first = Diana|last = Robson}}</ref> which was joined by the distribution of 160-acre tracts of farmland for a token fee of ten dollars under the federal ''[[Dominion Lands Act]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Canadian Prairies: A History|last=Friesen|first=Gerald|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0-8020-6648-0 |location= Toronto, Ontario|pages=179–183, 302, 314–320}}</ref> In addition, the planned Canadian Pacific Railway was moved southwards from its original route through the Parklands to instead pass through Palliser's Triangle for the sake of facilitating homesteading and [[grain trade|grain shipment]], thus further encouraging settlement in the region. Were it not for this fact, it is very likely that cities such as [[Calgary]], [[Brandon, Manitoba|Brandon]] and [[Regina, Saskatchewan|Regina]] would not exist as they do today.<ref name=":5" />

Many farmers who did settle in the semi-arid portion of the Triangle between the period of the expedition and 1914 saw success, especially as the demand for wheat was driven up by the outbreak of the [[First World War]], though many others were forced to partake in wage labour as hired farmhands, members of itinerant [[threshing]] crews, or manual labour for road and rail construction companies, logging camps and mining towns, to continue sustaining their farms. Furthermore, the influx of agricultural technology on larger farms that came with the wartime boon such as [[tractor]]s, [[Combine harvester|combines]] and [[truck]]s all cut labour requirements on larger farms and increased the capital needed to establish oneself as a farmer, further hampering smaller farms. The loss of employment opportunities was further compounded in the 1930s as the government completed rail and road projects, in addition to the cutting of government work budgets.<ref name=":0" />

During the [[Great Depression in Canada|Great Depression]] the Triangle, like much of the Canadian and American Prairies, was struck by the [[Dust Bowl]] in the 1930s. This was caused, in large part, by a decrease in precipitation as well as longstanding flawed farming practices that exacerbated [[Aeolian processes#Wind erosion|aeolian soil erosion]] and dust storm activity. This includes the practice of leaving fields fallow, seen as necessary at the time to support agriculture in the given climate, as it was believed that exposed soil would better absorb and retain moisture. Measures undertaken in Alberta and Saskatchewan have since alleviated many of these issues. The Alberta government had the [[Special Areas Board]] buy up as much drought-afflicted farmland as possible to convert to grazing land, 2.1 million hectares of which it still administers. Both provincial governments subsidized the relocation of farmers willing to leave their farms in the drought-stricken regions, and the federal government established the [[Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration]] in 1935, an organization that expanded on government research into soil erosion, carried out soil surveys, encouraged farmers to adopt soil conservation measures and new farming practices, and established [[shelterbelts]] and community pastures.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McLeman RA, Dupre J, Berrang Ford L, Ford J, Gajewski K, Marchildon G | title = What we learned from the Dust Bowl: lessons in science, policy, and adaptation | journal = Population and Environment | volume = 35 | issue = 4 | pages = 417–440 | date = 2014 | pmid = 24829518 | pmc = 4015056 | doi = 10.1007/s11111-013-0190-z }}</ref>