Toward
the opening of the new century, land agents, including V.S. Peet, the
immigration agent for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, went east
to induce more people to settle in the Bear River Valley. As a result,
a number of families from Nebraska came to the area and bought farms
during the years following 1898. Fred Nihart came from Cairo, Nebraska,
in the spring of 1899, settling on the northeast quarter of the present
townsite. According to his own statement, he came because of a desire
to farm irrigated land.
After
the Bear River had been tapped and the local canal system built, water
began to flow over the thirsty soil. In 1892 possibilities for Bear
River Valley began to look promising for many new settlers. Fred Nihart
reported that others came from Nebraska and also from Tremont, Illinois,
in 1899.