John Palliser

Captain John Palliser (left) and Sir James Hector along with Thomas Blakiston were charged with exploring the Canadian West.

The Palliser Expedition’s map was not as accurate as Commissioner French had hoped.

It left some areas blank; some hills and rivers were not quite in the right place. Nevertheless, Palliser and his expedition members covered a huge part of western Canada, especially Alberta, and brought a wealth of knowledge about the plants, animals, people and geology back to the settled regions of the country.