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Happy Birthday Brandon !
6/1/2010 at 1:17 AM
A combo of roofing and flooding issues, I fell behind in my posting and missed wishing Brandon a Happy Birthday !
From my history blog:
May 30, 1882 - The City of Brandon is officially incorporated.
Brandon went from 'nothing' to a full fledged city in less than a year. As Pierre Berton recounts:
"This began in Brandon: A man called McVicar had a farm in Grand Valley and General Rosser, who was then the engineer, rode out and said to McVicar, "We want to buy your land. What's the price? He offered him a price and McVicar was going to take it until his friend said, "No, this is the CPR, ask for more." So McVicar raised the price about $10,000 and Rosser looked at him and said, "I'll be damned if there'll ever be a town at Grand Valley"-and there never has been. He drove off to the Brandon Hills and formed the town of Brandon in what was virgin territory…"
(excerpt from “The Last Spike 100th Anniversary” speech to the Empire Club by Pierre Burton)