| description: | Drawing Of Prairie College, Rapid City, Mb. The Problem Of Combining Higher Christian And Secular Education With The Pattern Of Agricultural Settlement Was Not An Easy One, But With The Establishment Of Prairie College, The Mckee Academy, And Brandon College (Now Brandon University), Western Manitoba Has Been Provided With An Unbroken Tradition Of Higher Learning Since 1880. Prairie College Was The Creation Of Dr. John Crawford, A Baptist Professor Of The Canadian Literary Institute At Woodstock, On, Who Hoped To Provide An Educational Community To Train Ministers For The Rapidly Multiplying Settlements Of The Canadian West And Offer Advanced Secular Learning To The Newcomers. Education Began With The Actual Construction On A Site On The Proposed Canadian Pacific Railway Line. Rev. G.B. Davis And Nine Male Students Tented On The Site While They Gathered Building Materials, Planted Gardens And Erected A Two Storey Stone Building To House Students And Faculty. This All Began In Autumn Of 1880 After Harvest And Ended Before Seeding So Students Could Be Free To Help At Home. Dr. Crawford Was Principal And Rev. Davis, The Vice-Principal |