Defying Palliser: Stories of Resilience from the Driest Region of the Canadian Prairies

After travelling through the Canadian prairies in the 1850s, British adventurer John Palliser deemed a large portion of the region to be a near desert and unfit for agriculture. That reportedly disadvantaged area became known as Palliser’s Triangle. In Defying Palliser farmers and ranchers from southwest Saskatchewan and southest Alberta–residents in the Palliser Triangle–tell how they have challenged Palliser’s prediction. Incorporating the latest research on adaptive capacity and climate change, these stories of self-reliance, inventiveness and community solidarity reveal a remarkably resilient people who have adapted and survived in the driest, most drought-prone climate on the Canadian Prairies.