There were two droughts in the prairies in the 1920s and 1930s. One, the prairie dry belt disaster, lasted from 1921 to 1926. The other, the drought in Palliser's Triangle, lasted from 1929 to 1937. The dry belt is located in south-eastern Alberta and south-western Saskatchewan. Palliser's Triangle is located north of the Canada-America border, bordered by Cartwright, Manitoba; Lloydminster, Saskatchewan; Calgary, Alberta; and Cardston, Alberta. In the years of the two droughts, the Prairies could not be used for farming. The prairies, before the droughts and today, was and is the second highest producer in wheat worldwide. During the droughts, living in the prairies was tough. Farmers could not sell wheat, because they had none. They also could not support their livestock. Between 1921 and 1926, more than half of the population of southern Alberta left to live elsewhere. Some areas were faring even worse. For example, 80% of the Tilley-East area was permanently evacuated in 1926. More farms were abandoned in Alberta in the 1920s than in the 1930s. …show more content…
The worst drought happened in 1929 to 1937. Wind slowly blew away topsoil leaving farmers with no crops or a harvest. This caused massive dust storms to occur. Getting anywhere was a challenge as dust would get in your eyes, nose, or mouth. Dust would also make its way into houses. In addition, clouds of grasshoppers ate everything in their path. Farmers were forced to leave in order to survive. The drought devastated 7.3 million hectares of farmland farmers to abandon just under 14000