Oliver Tousaint Jackson was born on April 6, 1862 in Oxford, Ohio. He and his wife Minerva arrived in Colorado from Cleveland on April 4, 1887. Until 1894, they lived in Denver where they had a catering business and O. T. was employed by the State of Colorado as a messenger for several of the early governors. In 1910, Jackson homesteaded land 30 miles east of Greeley and began advertising for colonists. The name Dearfield was suggested by one of the early settlers, Dr. J. H. P. Westbrook, a physician from Denver. The name was adopted because the land was to be very dear to the hearts of the settlers. The autumn of 1911 found seven families and three teams of horses in residence. The struggles of the colonists, most of whom had no agricultural experience, taught them techniques of dry land farming and the raising of livestock and poultry. By 1921, Dearfield was thriving. The Weld County News (Nov.) proclaimed a colony of 700 people with improved lands worth circa $750,000, livestock and poultry worth $200,000 and an annual production of $125,000. Then came the Great Depression and the years of the Dust Bowl. By 1940, only 12 people lived in Dearfield. Minerva Jackson died December 9, 1942. After her death, O. T. advertised the Dearfield townsite for sale, but there was no buyer. O. T. Jackson died on Wednesday, February 18, 1948.