After travelling through the Canadian prairies in 1857 and 1858, 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 famously as Palliser's Triangle.

In Defying Palliser, farmers and ranchers from southwest Saskatchewan and southeast
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.