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What a gorgeous evening. If you look carefully, you'll see a herd of deer grazing beneath the trees in the shadows. Of all the places in Utah for Mormons to create a community, Fruita might be one of the most difficult. Fronted by tens of thousands of square miles of desert, along a wild river prone to serious flooding, and in an area so remote that paved roads did not arrive until the 1960s, it is perhaps of little wonder Fruita, for most of its life, was home to no more than eight to 10 families. Though it never comprised more than 300 acres Fruita -- originally called Junction -- became an important settlement due to its relatively long growing season and abundant water. Settlers from nearby Torrey and Loa -- which each have 90-day growing seasons -- arrived in Fruita and planted thousands of trees bearing Jonathan, Rome Beauty, Ben Davis, Red Astrachan, Twenty-Ounce Pippin and Yellow Transparent apples, Morpark apricots, Elberta peaches, Bartlett pears, Fellenburg plums, and the Potawatomi plum. Settlers also planted English and black walnuts and almonds. Grape arbors appeared later. Around the turn of the century, with basic essentials taken care of, settlers turned towards constructing a school, stores and a small lodge, which you can still see today.