Loren and Fern Stucki married on October 17, 1923.  When Loren and Fern were married, the little town of Ivins had six families living there, when Loren found out he had an opportunity to build a home and receive an acre of property to help build the community he didn’t hesitate. It was said that Loren was a very industrious young man and Fern a highly respected lady. Their home was one of the quickest built.  In September 1925 he began building their home and by November 30, 1925 Loren and Fern with one son were the tenth family to move into Ivins. Loren was made Constable and he also was employed to help work on Old Highway 91 and other road projects.

 

One of the many struggles that the original settlers had to deal with constantly were the roads. The road from St. George to California that came right through Santa Clara and Ivins was first known as the Arrowhead Trail. It was used by the early pioneers of Ivins to travel to Santa Clara and St. George, as well as to Utah Hill, then on to the small towns of Littlefield, Arizona, and Mesquite and Bunkerville, Nevada.  When Ivins was first settled, the Arrowhead Trail and other roads consisted of sandy soil. Improving the roads gave work to several men who lived in Ivins and throughout the area. There was a good force of men and teams working.  At times there were up to forty men and twenty-three teams that were said to be working.  Roads continued to be improved as the men traveled to “road camps” where they would work a stretch of road throughout the week instead of traveling home each night. Edward Frei Jr. said “Arrowhead Road was a main artery of travel for commercial and pleasure motor transportation between So. California and Utah and it skirted the south end of my field.  Sometimes the travelers had to hitch a team of horses to their cars to pull them up the sandy hills.”  In 1943 Loren and Fern decided to move back to Santa Clara. Fern passed away in September 1953 and Loren passed away in 1957 following a stroke. They were survived by three children, Cleyon, Gar, and Lorna.

Written by Cherise Ence Spencer   June 2023, Vol. 23 Issue 6  Ivins Newletter