Although the 1930s as a whole for all farmers were marked by dramatic periods of "boom and bust," for the residents of the Triangle, the periods of "boom" were far shorter and crueler (McNeill 40). Indeed, when "Captain John Palliser first reached the prairies he was said he thought he had "discovered Hell" because the region was so arid and desert-like. Still, Palliser noted "a fertile belt surrounding the region" (Bonikowsky 2007). Like the Great Plains, Indians and buffalo were the main residents (McNeill 41). The British government ignored Palliser's dim prognosis about developing the area and encouraged settlement.

Farmers in the Triangle repeatedly watched entire seasons of crops blow away in the dust, despite their efforts to engage in vigorous, proactive farming techniques like "fallowing (plowing but not sowing a field)," crop rotation (which was not practiced in the American West) and "shallow cultivation to preserve soil moisture, unfortunately...
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