Early Mormon settlers in this remote part of southern Utah built the Historic Tropic Ditch to bring life-giving water from the East Fork of the Sevier River, across the Paunsaugunt Plateau, and down to the Paria River drainage, sustaining homes, families, farms, residents, and livestock. Dug by hand along a 10 mile course and dropping 1,500 feet after passing over the rim of what is now Bryce Canyon National Park, the ditch became the focus of renewed agricultural expansion after the East Fork Irrigation Company was formed in 1889 to open farmland north of Cannonville and Henrieville. Company stock was issued, survey equipment and digging tools were purchased, the canal survey was finished in early July 1889, and digging began that September. In the spring of 1889, a new town was also laid out with sixteen blocks, four lots per block, each lot about 14 acre and sold for $7.50, attracting additional settlers with the prospect of a dependable water source. Nearly 40 men labored with teams, scrapers, and blasting through hard limestone on the plateau, completing the excavation in early spring 1892 as a major achievement of hardy pioneers determined to make the harsh surroundings blossom and allow a community to thrive.