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MILBRANDT VINEYARDS HISTORY
| Butch: |
Our parents grew up on farms in Minnesota and Nebraska. They moved to Oregon during the dust bowl days and,
after marrying in 1942, Dad worked on the Liberty ships during the war. They decided to get back into farming in
1948. Dad bought a tractor in Portland and drove it the 135 miles over the Cascade Mountains in winter to begin
farming near Madras, Oregon. |
| Jerry: |
I was a toddler when we moved to Madras, Oregon where dad farmed with his brother Gerald. My uncle Jess and
Aunt Gladys Gallup, as well as grandpa and grandma (Art and Mildred Milbrandt), lived there at that time also.
Dad farmed on his own after Gerald moved to Quincy to live on the land he received as a WWII veteran. We visited
Gerald a few times and Dad loved the area, the long growing season, the well-drained soils and the irrigation water
available from the Columbia River through the Grand Coulee Dam. In ’53 or ‘54 we moved to the Quincy area about
two miles from Uncle Gerald. |
| Butch: |
I remember it as barren and desolate. Mostly sagebrush and sand. No roads ran past our farm in the first year.
As we worked the land and loosened the soil, the wind would create dust storms and make it impossible to see for
periods of time. It was a struggle to hold the land and nurture a crop. |
| Jerry: |
Dad and Mom paid $40 an acre for their 160 acres. They had saved half of the money and borrowed the balance
from Grandpa. Upon arriving we staked out our homestead and planted a border of trees for definition, shade and
protection. We lived in an army surplus trailer and tent for the first winter before building a concrete block home. |
| Butch: |
Fast forward to a blustery day in April of 1997. Jerry and I were sitting in the pick-up, contemplating our future.
Neither of us were professionally satisfied at the time. We both had experience in agriculture, real estate, wholesale
and retail. We were both interested in wine. Eastern Washington was emerging as a premier wine growing region.
Getting into the grape-growing business seemed like the perfect solution. |
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