Over the years, roads were improved and more land was cleared, but the farms never materialized. Each settler had been given of land but they only cleared enough land to meet their immediate requirements. It wasn’t long before many of the men were seeking employment elsewhere, such as the American base: Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville and with the Pulp and Paper Industry in Corner Brook. Several of the original settlers even returned to their home towns, preferring the uncertainty of fishing to the drudgery of farming.