North DakotaU.S. stateState in the United StatesNorth Dakota ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south, and Montana to the west. North Dakota is part of the Great Plains region, characterized by broad prairies, steppe, temperate savanna, badlands, and farmland.
South DakotaSouth Dakota ( ; Dakota: Dakȟóta itókaga, pronounced) is a landlocked state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota Sioux tribe, which comprises a large portion of the population and has historically dominated the territory. South Dakota is the 17th-largest by area, the fifth-least populous, and the fifth-least densely populated of the 50 United States.
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River is a river in the Central and Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Montana, then flows east and south for 2,341 mi (3,767 km) before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri.
SaskatchewanProvince of CanadaProvince in CanadaSaskatchewan is a province in Western Canada. It is bordered to the west by Alberta, to the north by the Northwest Territories, to the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the United States (Montana and North Dakota). Saskatchewan and neighbouring Alberta are the only landlocked provinces in Canada. In 2026, Saskatchewan's population was estimated at 1,278,402.
AlbertaProvince of CanadaProvince in CanadaAlberta is a province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, the Northwest Territories to its north, and the U.S. state of Montana to its south. Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only two landlocked provinces.
Great American DesertThe term Great American Desert was used in the 19th century to describe the part of North America east of the Rocky Mountains to approximately the 100th meridian. It can be traced to Stephen H. Long's's which put the Great American Desert on the map. Today, the area is usually referred to as the High Plains, and the original term is sometimes used to describe the arid region of North America, which includes parts of northwestern Mexico and the American Southwest.
PlateauIn geology and physical geography, a plateau (; French: [plato]; pl.: plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides have deep escarpments or hills. Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers.
John PalliserJohn PalliserCMG (29 January 1817 – 18 August 1887) was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Following his service in the Waterford Militia and hunting excursions to the North American prairies, he led the which investigated the geography, climate and ecology of what would later become western Canada.
Palliser's TrianglePalliser's Triangle (French: Triangle de Palliser), or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Canadian Prairies, namely southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be unsuitable for crops outside of the fertile belt due to arid conditions and dry climate, expansionists questioned this assessment, leading to homesteading in the Triangle.
French languageFrench (français or langue française) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It was influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the GermanicFrankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.
GeographerA geographer is a professional whose work applies the concepts, methods and techniques of geography to the analysis of places, regions, environments and spatial relationships. Geographers examine the distribution and organization of natural and human phenomena at different geographic scales, drawing on physical geography, human geography and fields that integrate aspects of both.
List of explorersExplorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.