Aztec Ruins Administrative History

THE BOUNDEY ERA, APRIL 1927-OCTOBER 1929

For three years after the establishment of the monument, the American Museum continued to provide a watchman, who primarily looked after its property but also kept an eye on the ruin. The Trustees decided not to continue offering this service to the government as of January 1, 1927. This move probably was taken to force the government into assuming its rightful responsibility. To that time, only $24 a year actually had been committed to the site's protection, other than $500 for ruin repairs: $12 for a custodian and $12 for a park ranger. Andrieus A. Jones, senator from New Mexico, urged Director Mather to try to get the American Museum to continue its support for a short additional period. Jones planned to pressure the congressional Appropriations Committee to increase its aid to all 32 national monuments. In 1926, that budget totaled just $21,270. [25] During the same interlude, Morris acknowledged a letter from the superintendent of the Southwest Monuments, Frank Pinkley, stating that the government could not provide a custodian until at least the fiscal year beginning in July 1928. Considering his own commitments, Morris decided that meant that for an intolerable interim of a year and nine months there would be no one in residence at Aztec Ruin. Realizing that the National Park Service and its regional Southwest division were actively trying to remedy this situation, he placed the blame on the Bureau of the Budget and the Appropriations Committee of Congress. Even after three days of testimony, the individuals in these groups did not comprehend the destructive problems faced by vulnerable prehistoric entities in the Southwest. [26]

On December 24, 1926, Arno B. Cammerer, then assistant director of the National Park Service, notified George H. Sherwood, acting director of the American Museum of Natural History, that at last Congress had approved a permanent custodian for Aztec Ruin. The same message already had been dispatched to Morris in New Orleans, where he was making preparations to sail to Yucatan for another season for the Carnegie Institution. [27] After three years in limbo, Aztec Ruin was to become a full-fledged part of the federal park system. Events soon showed that this was not to be accomplished without a personnel battle.

In his December telegram, Cammerer asked for advice from Morris about whom to appoint to fill the permanent custodian position. Morris found himself in a quandary. He knew of no one with sufficient intellectual grasp of the archeological significance of the site to, in his opinion, properly interpret it to the public. Owens was the obvious person, other than Morris, with the most intimate association with Aztec Ruin as it had been revealed. Still, Morris felt Owens lacked the knowledge and the managerial skills to be a full-time custodian. Although he apologized for appearing self-serving, Morris suggested that he have the official appointment. He would choose someone else to carry out the immediate routine duties and receive the $100 monthly remuneration until such time as he could give Aztec Ruin his own full attention. [28] In the meantime, Morris was obliged to continue paying Fassel $20 a month out of his own pocket until some definite decision about the ruin's protection was reached.

For the next three months, confusion reigned over the newly created position at Aztec Ruin. Since Fassel already was at the site under an agreement with Morris, he was employed as assistant custodian at an annual stipend limited to $480. Several days later Cammerer again wired Morris in New Orleans that, despite his advice, Owens was chosen as ranger and Fassel was reduced to laborer. Owens was to be paid $1,140 yearly. [29] Probably Pinkley's opinion of Fassel had something to do with the decision not to continue him as assistant custodian. Earlier while the monument staffing matter was before the Appropriations Committee, Pinkley wrote Mather, "Fassel is as honest as the cigar store Indian who used to try to present every casual passer-by with his handful of cigars, and has just about as much brains when it comes to imparting the information the visitor wants concerning the Aztec Ruin." [30] Upon learning of the offer to Owens, Fassel angrily shot off a letter to Pinkley lodging complaints against Owens's aggressiveness in continuing to take visitors through the ruins, although Morris had not authorized him to do so, and generally ignoring Fassel's semi-official status. [31]

The friction between the two men vying for control at Aztec led National Park Service officials to by-pass potential problems by appointing an outsider to the custodian post and rescinding the offer to Owens. [32] They selected George L. Boundey, a career National Park Service man, who had been Pinkley's assistant at Casa Grande National Monument in Arizona. In order to reward his past meritorious service, Boundey's rank was upgraded to custodian at an annual salary of $1,320. Since there could not be two custodians, a brief form letter abruptly informed Morris that his services were terminated without prejudice. [33] He was not thanked for his four years of service without pay, nor was the American Museum of Natural History thanked for its contributions to maintenance of the site until the National Park Service was able to fully take the reins. Not until a month later did Morris receive a letter of explanation of the personnel changes made during the spring. [34] If he felt hurt by this summary treatment, he did not express it in writing.

The townfolks of Aztec always took a keen interest in what was going on at the ruin. They regarded the rejection of Owens in favor of an unknown man from Arizona as a personal affront. Some of them lost little time in protesting to Congressman John Morrow. They complained that Owens was betrayed for political reasons. [35] The reply from Acting Director Arthur E. Demaray that a more experienced man was needed to run the monument and that Owens could be assured of employment in ruin repair did not erase the resentment. [36] Since Morris's exploits in the Southwest and Mexico made him a local celebrity, Aztecans likely included his release among their suspicions of government motives.

Had Morris been in residence at the time of the transition period, the alliance between the National Park Service and the American Museum of Natural History would have been less shaky. As it was, he was anxious that National Park Service employees not exercise unwarranted privileges on museum property he was supposed to protect. Immediately upon learning of his own termination as custodian, he dispatched several telegrams to Fassel cautioning him not to allow that to happen. [37]

When Boundey reported for duty in April 1927, he was not qualified or able to carry out three of the four activities listed in the newly defined custodian job description. [38] He was familiar with the necessary administrative duties, but he was not sufficiently educated about the Anasazi to be an effective guide nor did he understand the demands of the kind of necessary ruin repair. There was neither museum nor specimens, the preparation of which was another of his outlined duties. These facets of the custodian's job at Aztec Ruin caused Boundey difficulties and plunged his administration into turmoil. Eventually, it was his solution to the museum problem and his paranoid behavior arising from imaged wrongs committed by Morris and the American Museum that resulted in his transfer in October 1929 to Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona, where he served as custodian. His administration was the most tumultuous in the recent history of Aztec Ruin. [39]