As evident in Palliser's 1865 map, much of his exploratory
science consisted of what historian Suzanne Zeller has
called "inventory science." Palliser identified
transportation routes, catalogued mineral and timber
resources, and assessed the region's potential for European-style
agriculture.
Although many of Palliser's comments are personal
and do not have the detachment that is expected of
a scientific report, they mark the beginning of direct
- not just speculative - comment on the western landscape
by a direct observer.
One of the more lasting contributions of the Palliser
expedition to the geographical sciences was its identification
of the northern extension of the Great American Desert
into the area south of the Red Deer River and extending
at an angle into modern-day southwestern Saskatchewan.
This triangular piece of land is characterized by
a dry climate, sandy soil, and extensive grass cover,
and has since been named "Palliser's Triangle."
Although Palliser maintained that the region would
stand as a barrier to agriculture, federal government
pamphlets in the early-twentieth century extolled
the virtues of Palliser's Triangle. The drought conditions
that swept the Prairies in the 1930s eventually proved
Palliser correct.
