Canadian Transport Sourcebook

Chapter X

The Birth of Brandon

The location of a prairie town is often more or less a case of luck, accident or mystery. Sometimes a lonely squatter attracts a few more agriculturalists to adjoining quarter sections and their solitary shacks are the only little dots to be seen on the landscape, when along comes the busy little land grabbers with a bag full of money, buys out the hayseeds, taking a chance that the railway line will run through "Somewhere's near," and proceeds to lay out the land in streets, avenues and town lots. In many cases he is magnificently rewarded by the sale thereof, or else, if the situation happens to suit the Railway Company, he is bought out by them and so reaps the reward of his shrewdness or luck.

The two or three little shacks are soon joined by enterprising pioneer hotel men and storekeepers who at first stick up tents, to be succeeded by brick or wooden buildings, so that in a few short months the bare patch of prairie assumes the appearance of a village, rapidly blossoms into a town, with hotels, churches, banks and stores, etc., and finally aspires to be a city with street cars and all the other luxuries of modern civilization. Then the C.P.R. builds it a fine station, and if the mileage suits, the place is made a Divisional Point and receives the honour of a name on the timetable.

The birth of Brandon was rather different and is most interesting and not generally known.

General Rosser, Chief Engineer: John MacTavish, Land Commissioner, and myself, were driving West, one starry Spring night, in search of a suitable place for the first Divisional Point West of Winnipeg. We were well ahead of the surveyed line and stopped that night at a farmhouse on the North side of the Assiniboine River. I forget the farmer's name, but he had been settled there for some years and had about 320 acres. It was an ideal site for a Divisional Point about 132 miles West of Winnipeg. the officials had a long talk with the farmer, which lasted nearly all night, until I understood an offer was made on behalf of the C.P.R. Company of fifty thousand dollars for the farm.

I fully believe that this honest son of the soil had never even read about so much money in books. The discussion proceeded and some "wise guys" of neighbours and relations were called in and consulted, till at last, towards dawn, our genial host was egged on to demand "Sixty thousand dollars," no doubt thinking that if his farm was worth so much money he might as well get a lot more. The General thought otherwise.

I think the farmer was astonished and I hope disappointed when the General ordered me to have the horses hitched up. We ferried across the Assiniboine River and after driving a mile or two came upon the future site of the City of Brandon on the South side of that placid stream basking in the sun. I received orders to return to the end of the track and continue the location of the main line, establishing the first Divisional Point at Brandon.

The proposed City of Calgary received a similar fate. Originally located on the East side of the Elbow River by a syndicate which had secured many acres, they failed to come to a satisfactory agreement with the Railway Company, and although the track was actually laid through their property, and many town lots were sold, the speculation was a failure, as the Railway people located the station on the other side of the little Elbow River and started a town of their own which is now the City of Calgary.

The manipulations of the land grabbers and town site boomers were not always successful, and if they did make a lucky selection, it seemed to me that their best plan was to divide up with the Railway Company. If not, they often found themselves a mile or two away from the station and their town was either soon deserted or became only a suburb of the real town owned by the C.P.R.