thumb|upright=1.5|Map of Palliser's Triangle

Palliser's Triangle (), or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Canadian Prairies, namely southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be unsuitable for crops outside of the fertile belt due to arid conditions and dry climate, expansionists questioned this assessment, leading to homesteading in the Triangle. Agriculture in the region has since suffered from frequent droughts and other such hindrances.

The region is named after the Irish/Canadian explorer John Palliser, who described it circa 1880.

History

Before Western European interests and settlement expanded to the region, Palliser's Triangle was inhabited by a variety of Indigenous peoples, such as the nêhiyawak ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐘᐠ (Plains Cree), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux), and the Niitsítapi (Blackfoot Confederacy). Their lifestyle was centred around the 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. By the mid-1850s, however, the hunt had become an economic venture, their hides and meat sold by Métis and First Nations hunters to the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and the increased demand led to a decline in herds.

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 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 and Hind expeditions, respectively,

The area was named after John Palliser, the leader of the aforementioned British Palliser expedition into Western Canada from 1857 to 1859. The expedition had the objective of spending two or three seasons:

  1. 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°";
  2. 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 Portage was too far north and "totally useless" for horses;
  3. 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. and a rich fertile belt in the middle that was ideally suited to agriculture and settlement, 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 and Métis who inhabited them at the time. 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. 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 shipment, thus further encouraging settlement in the region. Were it not for this fact, it is very likely that cities such as Calgary, Brandon and Regina would not exist as they do today.

Modern agriculture

This area was and is still very productive in terms of both produce and livestock. Alberta and Saskatchewan are currently the provinces with the second and third most farms, respectively, only being surpassed in this respect by much more populous Ontario. This is despite the fact that Palliser's Triangle, which occupies much of the southern portions of both of these provinces, has had consistent issues with droughts, almost every decade being marked by at least one dry year, in no small part due to the orographic lift caused by the Rockies, the Coast Mountains, the Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada Range. This has much to do with efforts to maintain sustained agricultural practices such as crop diversification and conservation tillage which have softened the blow of complications that could have otherwise had far more severe effects. The reverse is true in Alberta, which has the second largest total farmland and the highest number of cattle. This Western Canadian agriculture is noticeably focused in the Palliser's Triangle region, demonstrating that agriculture in the area has persisted in spite of the dry climate.

Despite the frequent and sometimes disastrous droughts, the Triangle did become and still is the metaphorical breadbasket of the nation as he expected. However, the region has also suffered a major loss in terms of biodiversity over the course of settlement. Canada as a whole has found itself with under 20% of its mixed grass prairies, under 5% of its fescue prairies, and less than a half-percent of its tall grass prairies. In addition, the prairies have a very high rate of endangered species.