Palliser's Triangle is a geographic area mostly in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The triangle extends southwards from Red Deer and extends south to the United States border. It was named after John Palliser who lead an survey expedition to Canada's west that first remarked on this area. When Palliser discovered it was a dry land with no trees that he thought would be unsuitable for growing crops. A few years later, however, John Macoun, a government official, argued that it would be good for growing wheat and advertised it as such to immigrant farmers. The triangle began to be settled and farmed at the start of the 20th century. For a time yields were high but a combination of the dry conditions and poor agricultural practices saw the area turn into a Dust Bowl in the 1930s, helping plunge Canada into the Great Depression. Eventually new farming techniques and a series of rainy years helped to reestablish the area as an important farming region. However, farming has always been precarious there and to this day the area's farmers often need large government subsidies to deal with drought conditions.
