Palliser expedition
[2] With the support of the British government and the Royal Geographical Society it became an official expedition with the stated purpose of gathering scientific information about the landscapes of British-claimed north-western North America (today's western Canada), in particular the territory of Rupert's Land, including information on the geography, climate, soil, flora and fauna, in order to discover its capabilities for settlement and transportation.
[3] The expedition was the first detailed and scientific survey of the region between Lake Superior and the southern passes of the Rockies in British North America.
"[6] With little information about the western prairies and the frontiers of European settlement in British North America, the basis of public knowledge prior to the expedition was largely speculation.
[5] With the expansionist view and the potential in the land, the western prairies began to also be seen as a place to settle and live as the barren and harsh wilderness was portrayed as a visionary countryside.
[7] Even with little information or supporting evidence regarding the land's potential, visions of the west were influential in portraying British North America as an untouched and unsettled wilderness full of opportunity.
[7] Thomas Devine created the first map of British North America's West in 1857,[8] which showed the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company.
[7] Both the Canadian and British governments’ interest in the region and some of these possible opportunities of the land were responsible for their investment and involvement in further research and expeditions.
[2] Palliser had seen major waterways facilitating transportation in Mississippi and Missouri and saw the potential for connecting the Red River Colony to Canada.
[2] In collecting accurate and detailed information about the land the party was travelling through, they recorded the different landscapes and terrains from bodies of water to forests and mountains.
During the winter, Palliser, Captain Arthur Brisco and William Roland Mitchell went south to Rocky Mountain House to meet the Blackfoot and Northern Peigan First Nations.
The science that was used in this expedition in the surveying of the land and information that was gathered was significant in the types of agriculture that could be grown and opportunities for settlement and transportation.
The expedition collected and filed astronomical, meteorological, geological and magnetic data, described the fauna and flora of the lands crossed, as well as considerations regarding settlement and transportation.
[11] The research conducted on the expeditions by Hind and Palliser began to redefine the landscape of western British North America in its topography and the differences in the atmosphere.
[7] The knowledge and plans for western British North America became more clear after Palliser and Hind's expeditions, with the detailed records and observations they were able to create a more accurate representation and understanding of the west.
[5] In connecting the west with Canada, by 1870 agriculture was becoming the main focus and resource in the western prairies, though trading fur continued to be part of the economy.
[14] Palliser and Hind's expeditions and the research they conducted and the information that they contributed led to the western prairies being divided into regions based on the geography, climate, soil and agricultural potential.
[5] The transition in the economic sectors from fur trading to agricultural created more development in western Canada, with a growing population of European settlers.
[14] The changes in the economy as a result of this expansion were very rapid and had affected the Metis and Indigenous people as they experienced a shift in their economic, political and cultural control over their communities.
[14] The disappearance of the buffalo led to the Indigenous communities becoming more reliant on European settlers and the government as they lost their main resource of economic dependency and began selling their land and moving on to reserves.
