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.