'A Little Oasis in the Desert' : Community Building in Hurricane, Utah, 1860-1920
Utah Historical Quarterly
Summer 1994
62
1994
222-45
Southern Utah was colonized and settled by a determined group of people. Their persistence in the face of adverse circumstances and hardships was due principally to their religious devotion, a mindset to accept marginal lands, and a fierce determination. Many of those who settled along the upper Virgin River were willing to devote considerable time and expense to the proposed Hurricane canal project to try to bring water up onto the arable bench lands. Although the project had been deemed impossible, this rugged group of individuals accomplished it through dogged persistence and determination and succeeded in building a viable community.