February 2026 Artifact of the Month: Magdalena Settler Stucki
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The February 2026 Artifact of the Month at the McQuarrie Memorial Pioneer Museum highlights one of Santa Clara’s earliest Swiss settlers and a treasured piece of early community history.
Magdalena Settler Stucki (Room 4)
Magdalena Settler Stucki was among the first settlers of Santa Clara. Born in Switzerland, she married Samuel Stucki and raised four children there before the family immigrated to Utah in search of opportunity and religious freedom.
The journey west was filled with hardship. After arriving in Salt Lake City, the family relied on the Church to provide a wagon for their journey south to Santa Clara. When they arrived in November 1861, conditions were far different from the comfortable home Magdalena had known in Switzerland. Their first dwelling was a simple willow teepee.
Reflecting on the dramatic contrast between her homeland and the red rock landscape of Southern Utah, she is remembered for saying, “Oh these red hills! These roily waters.” The Stucki family endured many years of struggle as they helped establish what would become a thriving community.
The First Clock in Santa Clara
Also featured this month is the first clock owned in Santa Clara, belonging to Magdalena S. Stucki. Manufactured by the Waterbury Clock Company, this timepiece represents more than a practical household item — it symbolizes stability, progress, and the building of community in an isolated pioneer settlement.
In a place where daily life was governed by the rising and setting of the sun, a clock marked the steady movement toward growth and permanence. Today, it stands as a reminder of the courage and resilience of Santa Clara’s early Swiss settlers.
We invite you to visit Room 4 of the museum to see both Magdalena’s portrait and the historic clock in person.
