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Guide to the Leonard Heaton Diaries

This finding aid describes the Leonard Heaton Diaries part of the NPS History Collection. To search this guide for names, places, key words, or phrases enter Ctrl F on your keyboard (command key + F key on a Mac). Request an in-person research appointment or get more information by contacting the archivist.

Collection Overview

Collection Number: HFCA 3525
Accession Number: HFCA-00114

Creator: Heaton, Charles Leonard (1901-1993)
Title: Leonard Heaton Diaries
Dates: 1936-1938
Volume of Collection: 3 EA
Language of Materials: English

Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized.

Conditions Governing Use: This collection is open to research use. See the NPS general copyright & restrictions information.
Provenance: Received from the NPS Midwest Regional Office in 1972.
Processing Note: This collection was processed by Nancy Russell in September 2025.

Rights Statements for Archival Description: This guide is in the public domain.
Preferred Citation: Leonard Heaton Diaries, NPS History Collection (HFCA 3525)
Location of Repository: NPS History Collection, Harpers Ferry Center, PO Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

Related Materials:

Biographical Note

Charles Leonard Heaton was born November 15, 1901, in Orderville, Utah. His parents were Charles Carroll Heaton and Margaret Cox. He grew up in Moccasin, Arizona, as the eldest of 10 children. He and his family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While in grade school, he helped on the family farm. He graduated from St. George High School. After school, Heaton worked as a cowboy, farmer, and beekeeper.

Heaton’s connection to what became Pipe Spring National Monument dates to 1909 when Jonathan Heaton and Sons (consisting of his grandfather and his seven sons) purchased the Pipe Spring property. Their business, called the Pipe Springs Land & Live Stock Company, rented out the ranch while the family continued to live in Moccasin. In 1920 the company transferred the ranch to Charles C. Heaton. The history of land ownership and subsequent land claims is complex (see the park’s administrative history for more details).

In September 1920, NPS Director Stephen T. Mather visited Pipe Spring after attending the dedication of Zion National Park. He photographed the fort and briefly discussed the idea of making Pipe Spring a national monument with the Heatons. They were receptive to the idea and promised to furnish labor should NPS decide to restore the site. On June 6, 1921, Mather wrote to Office of Indian Affairs Commissioner Charles H. Burke that he had found "a very interesting old homestead" on the Kaibab Reservation that he wanted to acquire for the National Park System.

President Warren G. Harding signed the proclamation establishing Pipe Spring National Monument on May 31, 1923. John White became the caretaker. In June 1924 Southwestern National Monuments superintendent Frank Pinkley, who did not think White was an appropriate choice as permanent custodian, proposed that Leonard Heaton be made custodian with White retained as a laborer. Assistant Director A. E. Demaray opposed the idea but could propose no alternative.

Heaton became caretaker on February 8, 1926. He married Edna Hoyt Robertson on June 25, 1926, in St. George, Utah. They went on to have ten children. On his first day of work Heaton rode to the monument on a black horse named "Snake." In addition to a salary of one dollar per month, his appointment included permission to operate a gas station and store as well as “Winsor Castle” which offered overnight accommodation.

Heaton’s title changed to custodian in 1932. In December 1955 he became superintendent. Throughout his 38-year career at Pipe Spring, he often enlisted family members to lead tours of the fort and help with maintenance projects. He personally conducted many of the repairs on the fort and acquired objects for the park’s museum collection.

He retired from the NPS in 1964, returning to Moccasin. In his final monthly report to his supervisors, he wrote: "I can say Mrs. Heaton and I have enjoyed our stay and the experiences we have had in meeting the visiting public. It has been rich...our first concern was the visitor that came to see our area, all else was secondary. As the saying goes, 'let me live by the side of the road and be a friend to man.'"

C. Leonard Heaton died on November 26, 1993, in Kanab, Utah.

Scope and Content Note

Typed, carbon copied, pocket notebook pages representing a daily diary for Leonard Heaton while he was custodian of Pipe Spring National Monument. Topics include Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) projects, including work conducted by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); CCC “boys” poaching; a CCC strike due to poor quality food; weather and storms; NPS and US Army relationship; wildlife; bird banding; plant collections; facility repairs; irrigation and water management; visitors; prior fish planting activities; general maintenance tasks; cooperating with the Indian Service; roads; museum acquisitions; and other aspects of monument administration. People mentioned include Don Erskine; Frank “Boss” Pinkley; L. J. Brown; Conrad Wirth; Isabelle Story; Charlie Sheen; Nancy Pinkley; Hugh Miller; Al Keuhl; J. H. Tovrea; Chuck Richey; and Bill Wright, among others.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically by year.

Container List

BOX 01
Folder 01: 1936, March-December
Folder 02: 1937, January-December
Folder 03: 1938, January-March

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Pipe Spring National Monument

Last updated: September 27, 2025