User:Boxcinema350/sandbox

The Clarion location offered seemingly cultivatable land that was sufficiently large enough to handle the group of incoming colonists, and was strategically located near a railroad depot, easily connecting the territory to Salt Lake City. After purchasing the territory, Benjamin Brown and twelve original colonists "chosen for their mechanical skills, experience with horses, and ‘seriousness,’” arrived at the settlement on September 10, 1911. The original occupants of the land were initially surprised to encounter land that, despite promoted as fertile, had a short growing season. But, the colonists nonetheless dug irrigation channels from the nearby canal and began to plant their crops such as wheat, oats and alfalfa.

By May 1912, the colonists quickly began to see their investment pay off, as they were able to plow their crops, and new families frequently arrived at the site. However, the Jewish colonists were simultaneously plagued by dust storms, heat, strong winds, flies and mosquitoes, which, when combined with a scarcity of water, doomed their harvest: six-hundred acres produced only half of the expected yield. In the fallout of the poor performing harvest, the colony decided that having having individual control over the territory would be more beneficial. Shortly thereafter, forty-acre lots of land began to replace collective work and ownership of the property.

While the individual plots of land were not uniform in terms of soil quality, they did lead to more success in terms of crops in the Spring of 1913. Combined with the construction of a well to make water more accessible, the population of Clarion continued to grow, and the colony as a whole started to show some signs of stability. However, through the Summer and Fall, severe weather frequently challenged living and planting conditions, as well as the stamina of the colonists, which, combined with a water shortage, devastated the 1914 harvest.

By 1915, the population of Clarion had decreased by almost two-thirds, and a second consecutive poor harvest during the year led to even more residents leaving in the pursuit of industrial labor opportunities in major cities such as New York and Chicago. Ultimately, a state order terminated the colony’s title on November 25, 1915. Shortly thereafter, in January 1916, the state of Utah began to auction off the colony’s land. Although some colonists remained, as only about one-tenth of the total tract was sold, most of the Jewish residents left within three or four years of the sale of the territory.