The area of north-eastern Colorado that Dearfield was located is the high plains, where there were very few trees and limited access to water. The townsite was a mile south of the South Platte River, but lied above the water, making irrigation difficult, with the only closer water access being the Bijou Canal. It was also difficult for the Dearfield farmers to gain rights to the water near them. During the main growing season over the summer there was very little rainfall, causing Dearfield farmers to have to be adaptable to learn how to farm in this arid landscape. Scientific experiments in dry farming were ongoing across the plains, especially at the agricultural college in Fort Collins (now Colorado State University). Dearfield farmers followed these techniques, practicing moisture conservation and other innovations.
Booker T. Washington Jr.'s family visit to Dearfield.
Dearfield house in background, small garden in foreground.
Charles Rothwell's horse pulled cart.
Dearfield primarily harvested what is referred to as "truck garden crops" that could be easily transported on trucks to nearby cities like Denver to sell directly after harvest.
Grains: Oats, barley, alfalfa, and hay.
Roots: Potatoes and sugar beets.
Fruits and Vegetables: Corn, squash, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries... etc.
Despite the harsh and difficult winter that hit Dearfield its first year of settlement, the early years of the townsite had good weather conditions for farming in the high plains. Heavy snow in the Winter and early Spring left precipitation on the ground well into the next year. The area also experienced more rain over the 1910s that in other periods. These favorable conditions allowed Dearfield’s agriculture to flourish. In 1921, the Weld County News valued the land at $750,000 after the improvements made by homesteaders, with the townsite as a whole being worth a million dollars. Whether or not these numbers are completely truthful, clearly the town was able to make something of their difficult land, and create a good foundation. Dearfield's most famous crop was their melons. The crop garnered attention from across the state, and around 1913 Booker T. Washington Jr. and his family visited Dearfield, and was pictured in the squash fields next to good crops. They often gave their best crops to governors and other prominent people, such as the largest watermelon of the season that was gifted to Governor Shoup in 1919.
Multiple factors went into the agricultural decline of Dearfield. While the location in the dry lands proved a major issue, other problems arose, such as an infestation of grasshoppers in 1930s that destroyed that season's melon crop. Winter months proved difficult to sustain as settlers had to hold up in unprotective houses with little food. There were also a few conflicts between the first group of Black farmers moving in and the more established White farmers in the area. When the harsh winter hit in 1910, the White farmers complained that the Black people had brought the storms with them because they had never had such a bad winter. White farmers stated concerns about the newcomers stealing land and cattle, likely because the White cattle-owners wished to own the land that new Dearfield occupants were claiming. Charles Rothwell also noted some conflicts with White people from Greeley, who later were members of the KKK.
The greatest downfall of Dearfield’s agriculture came with the changing climate of the 1930s. The cultivation of the high plains left the prairie fields dry and dusty. When drought hit the dust storm winds wiped out the last aspects of farming in Dearfield and other small farming communities in the area.
"Dearfield Once Again in Prominence," The Colorado Statesman, September 13, 1919. p. 5. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=CDS19190913-01.2.45&srpos=33&e=--1859---1955--en-20--21--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Dearfield-------0------.
"O.T. Jackson Still Active at Dearfield Site," Greeley Daily Tribune, October 4, 1937, p. 12. https://www.newspapers.com/image/25003555/?match=1&terms=dearfield%20grasshopper.
Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_02_0034. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_02_0068. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_02_0265. Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
Picher, Margaret, "Dearfield, Colorado: A Story From The Black West," Masters of Arts Thesis, University of Denver, 1976.
Stiff, Cary. "The Dream of Dearfield" The Denver Post Empire Magazine, November 2, 1969, p. 47-51. Series 6, Folder 5, Box 2, SC100, Carl Maag Collection, University of Northern Colorado Archives and Special Collections.
West, Charlotte. "Inside Dearfield, a Colorado ghost town that was once a bustling all-black settlement," NBC News, February, 28, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/inside-dearfield-colorado-ghost-town-was-once-bustling-all-black-n975716.