 Fort Walsh was established by Police Inspector James Morrow Walsh, who became a good friend of Sitting Bull when he led the Sioux to the area after the Battle of Little Big Horn.Despite the area’s semi-arid climate, the British government encouraged farmers to settle in the region.They struggled with drought up until the end of the 1930s, and many settlers abandoned their farms due to crop failure, but dryland farming techniques introduced by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration eventually transformed the region into a successful agricultural centre.