The Hurricane Canal was conceived as a seemingly impossible project to bring water from a point seven miles up the Virgin River to the Hurricane Bench through flumes, tunnels, across deep ravines, along steep unstable cliffs, and through sections of mountain, even though engineers said it could not be built and local residents had almost no money. The effort grew from desperation as upriver towns suffered flash floods from the Virgin River that destroyed half their farmland and more cultivated land was needed to support growing families. In the fall of 1893, James Jepson of Virgin and John Steele of Toquierville envisioned and promoted the plan, worked out a feasible route with a simple carpenter’s spirit level, and recruited men from neighboring towns. County surveyor Isaac McFarlane surveyed the route and estimated construction at $53,000, but the work proceeded with only picks, shovels, crowbars, and a homemade wheelbarrow. More than 100 hopeful men worked on the canal during the first few winters, yet by 1902 only eight to ten remained, as many had sold their stock and quit while costly sections still remained unfinished and the remaining workers were broke and discouraged. The project revived when Jepson went to Salt Lake City and persuaded the LDS Church to buy $5,000 of canal stock, allowing powder for tunnel blasting and lumber for flumes to be purchased. On August 6, 1904, water finally flowed through the canal onto the Hurricane Bench, bringing life to 2,000 acres of fertile land and opening the valley to settlement. After twelve years of sacrifice, hard work, and persistence, the undertaking created a community and permanently changed the lives and hopes of thousands of people in Utah’s Dixie.