Franklin's paper the Denver star., 1912-11-30
THE DEARFIELD SETTLEMENT

The Dearfeld Settlement is the
most prosperous settlement of colored
people west of the Missouri River
and north of Mason and Dixon Line;
10 miles northeast of Denver on the
Union Pacific r. r. and miles south
of Masters Station in Weld County
are located 26 colored families on
government land. Some are home
stealing and some have taken up
land under the Desert Land Act. Most
OF these families located in 1910 and
passed through one of the driest and
most unproductive seasons in the his
tory of Colorado With only tent
houses and dugouts these people en-
dured one of the severest winters
Colorado has had in 80 years. These
sturdy. hard working people, eager to
solve their own problem, are real pio-
neers of the race, and are now begin
ming to reap their harvest for their
sufferings and privations. They have
now 5000 acres of the best farming
/ land in the state in their possession,
and most of them will make final
proof in 1913.
The soil is a chocolate sandy loan
] from 10 to 90 feet deep, heavily COW
cred with sagebrush and vegetation.
/ The land is gently rolling and every
/ foot is tillable. II is situated in what
i is known as the rain belt of Colora-
do. There is an ineXhaustible under
I flow of water at depth of from 90 to
/ 80 feet, which is ample irrigation by
means OF pumping stations. The alti-
/ tude is $500 feet above sea level, the
climate is mild the year round. and
almost anything can be grown except
! cotton and rice.
The first settlers OF Dearfield were
very poor financially, but rich in de-
termination to succeed. In 1911 We
had but two habitable houses, now
there are IA: in 1911 there were but
200 acres fenced; now there are g.
/ 600; in 1911 We had but $50 acres
broken and in crop, in 1912 We had
broken and in crop 500 acres. Every
one has enough to carry man and
beast until the 1918 crop is gathered,
| AS the settlers lost most of their
horses last winter and the past sum
mer from cold, starvation and epi-
demic, they We're not able to put in
large crops for 1912; fortunately the
large and wealthy farmers around
the colony had such abundant crops
there was ample work for all the past
summer at good wages, and the set
tiers have been able to provide them
selves with comfortable homes, buy
horses, and prepare to put in large
crops of their own next year.
The Greek war called from the beet
fields such large number of hands
that We were compelled to send to
Denver for extra hands to help those
who had contracts for harvesting
beets. j. N. B. Anderson, Joe Young,
Robert CLANCY and James Thomas
had contracts for pulling and topping
beets, receiving $40 an acre for the
same. Their earnings from the beets
alone has amounted to S2.700. In our
district the farmers have contracted
TO put in thousand acres OF sugar
beets for five years. The price paid
for thinning and working beets is $50
per acre, and SO per acre for pulling
and topping amounts to $4,000 from
that one product alone. The average
yield paid $3.50 per ton. which
amounts to $4,000 for the 1000
acres, Cur people can have all the
work necessary to earn money to
prove upon their land Besides the
best work there is any amount of hay
work and other work at $1.75 to 50
per day. The settlers have given
such good satisfactionN in the beet
fields that many of the farmers want
to make contracts with them now to
take care of the 1913 crop. ]. N. B,