The map presented here was published by the Brandon Commercial Bureau, a private lobby group representing Brandon's business elite. However, it is difficult to determine the authorship because the Bureau's name only appears on the map, in small type, in the lower left corner. The title block, which is printed in a much larger type, gives the mistaken impression that the Department of the Interior is responsible for the map and its contents. By "borrowing" the department's name, the Bureau has given the map some added credibility by implying that its information is endorsed by the federal government.

Community promoters may have helped some urban centres to experience phenomenal growth, but it also had its drawbacks. Since it put all western towns and cities in competition with one another, there was little cooperation among business and political leaders. The result often left individual communities at a disadvantage when dealing with outside pressures  -  the railways, international corporations, and the federal government, for example  -  even when these pressures affected their mutual welfare.