In early 1891, a group of former members of the Kaweah Colony, including Curtis, established another utopian experiment called the Esperanza Land Improvement Company in an area called Esperanza on the Kettleman Plains, located to the west of the Traver and Hanford area. After returning from the World's Fair in 1892, Curtis and his family lived on their property in Esperanza as wheat farmers and scaled down his photography business. They struggled financially during the depression of 1882–1885.
