Desert Lake, about 8 miles east of here, was first settled in 1885 when settlers built an irrigation ditch from Huntington Creek to the townsite and a reservoir to store water for farming. In 1896 the dam broke and nearly drowned the small town. The dam was rebuilt in 1896-97, and a post office was established on Feb. 16, 1898. Between 1900 and 1910, the town gradually moved to a new site about 5 miles to the northeast because encroaching alkali was ruining the farmland. A school and meeting house was built at the new site in 1910, and in 1912 the post office was officially changed to Victor. Settlers continued to fight the arid climate but finally gave up, and Desert Lake and Victor became just a memory.