PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Water Problems at Moccasin Spring

After ownership of Pipe Spring was transferred to the federal government in 1924, the Office of Indian Affairs and its agent, Dr. Edgar A. Farrow, grew increasingly concerned about the Kaibab Reservation's water supply at Moccasin. (Farrow's worries were no doubt heightened by the 10-year drought that began in 1922.) One-third of Moccasin Spring served the Kaibab Agency and School headquarters, provided the domestic water for the Indians, water for their work animals, and water for irrigation of the school and Agency gardens and the Indians' fields. For years an almost constant controversy persisted between Agency personnel (especially Farrow) and the extended Heaton family about Moccasin Spring, whether it was a dam below the weir, a pipe outlet above the weir, pollution of the spring by stock and poultry, the development of nearby springs by the Heatons (believed by Farrow to reduce the flow of the main spring), or other matters. In addition to these long-standing problems, by the mid-1920s the old division weir and water pipeline constructed by the Indian Irrigation Service in 1907 had seriously deteriorated. In a January 1925 letter to Office of Indian Affairs Commissioner Charles H. Burke, Farrow reported that "the condition of the weir is exceedingly bad. It is doubtful if temporary repairs can be made to prevent leaks. A portion of the pipeline leading from the weir has become eroded to such an extent as to make it unsafe." [668] Farrow made several recommendations to make the weir and pipeline safe and effective. He had no funds to pay for the work, however, thus sought assistance from the Washington office.

After informing Commissioner Burke of the poor state of the reservation's water system, Farrow went back and thoroughly reviewed C. A. Engle's report of May 14, 1924. [669] Believing that the Indian Service had overlooked several points in this report, he wrote to Burke to bring them to his attention. Farrow also stressed the need for water measurements to be taken right away to determine what effects planned water development by the Heatons might have on the flow from Moccasin Spring. He suspected that an observable decrease in spring flow was caused by the family's attempts to develop additional water supplies in the immediate area. [670] Farrow advised Burke that immediate construction of a new weir was needed and that a new pipeline should be laid over the Heaton family's garden plot prior to planting time. [671] He also reported on recent conversations that he had with "Mr. Heaton, Sr.," (Jonathan Heaton) over the water situation:

He believes that legally he is entitled to this water without division but is willing to waive this point and allow the Indians one-third of the water as it flows to the present weir. As to the justice of this contention, I have no means of knowing and doubt if it could be determined even after much litigation. [672]

This is the first and only instance encountered to date where the Indians' one-third right to Moccasin Spring was called into question, even during all the years of the Heatons' litigation over homestead claims on the reservation. Jonathan Heaton, according to Farrow, was now implying that he was letting the Kaibab Paiute have the one-third share of water out of the goodness of his heart, not because they were entitled to it. The fact that the patriarch of the family made such a comment in 1925 bolstered Farrow's fear that the water supply, so long depended on by the Kaibab Paiute, was in grave danger of being taken over by the Heatons. It also suggests that while Moccasin Spring supplied enough water for both the handful of white residents and the small band of Indians who lived there in the late 19th century, its resources were now being stretched beyond capacity by increasing population of both Heatons and the Kaibab Paiute, their growing livestock herds, and the area's drought. [673]

By the winter of 1926, Farrow had managed to buy materials for improvements to the reservation's water system. In January 1926 Farrow notified the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that pipe and cement were on site and that lumber was soon to be purchased for the project. He requested the assistance of an engineer to oversee the work and stated, "It is proposed to change the location of the weir and construct it in such a manner as to guarantee uncontaminated water for the domestic supply of the Kaibab Agency and Indian settlement." [674] Engineer C. A. Engle had expressed his willingness to do the work if authorized by the Washington office. Assistant Commissioner E. B. Meritt responded to Farrow's request, informing him that no additional funds were available for allotment to the Kaibab Indian Reservation, but that if Farrow could pay the engineer out of his existing budget, then Engle would be authorized to do the work. [675] Farrow wrote Engle on March 5, and asked if he could begin work after March 15th for he wanted the new system completed before planting season. Engle replied he was unable to come until late summer due to other work priorities. He recommended instead that Farrow use another engineer, Leo A. Snow of St. George. [676]

Engineer Snow was contacted in late March and consented to do the work for $10 per day plus mileage. On June 1 work commenced on the Moccasin weir. Immediately upon arrival, Snow measured the flow of the spring with a 24-inch Cipolle weir. The spring flow was 0.60 second feet. "Without a full understanding and appreciation of the problems involved or the spirit and temperament of the contending parties concerned, I permitted the small impounding dam to be cut before making a careful observation of losses due to this impounding," Snow later reported. [677] The reservoir was drained and a concrete cutoff wall was constructed, into which an 18-inch weir was installed. Original plans had to be modified due to objections by Moccasin residents. Seepage that occurred prior to the concrete wall further complicated the water division, requiring Snow to modify the weir. Snow reported that he had had to go to considerable lengths "to satisfy the demands of residents of Moccasin." [678] In addition to the construction of the new weir, the old pipeline to Kaibab Village was replaced with 7,800 feet of four-inch steel pipe. Snow wrote in his final report,

I was very much grieved to see that the residents of Moccasin felt to distrust every effort toward the correct division of the waters and even expressed their determination of employing an engineer to go over the work accomplished and see if it was correctly done and that they were not being mysteriously robbed. [679]

In September Farrow forwarded a copy of Snow's report to Engle who in turn commended Farrow and Snow for their good work. Engle said the concrete weir was "a great improvement over the old system, especially regarding the important considerations of conservation of the limited water supply, and the sanitary conditions affecting it." [680] He also called attention to a slight error he believed Snow had made in proportioning the weir which would result in the Indians getting slightly less than the one-third share they were entitled to. He requested that Snow recheck the flow and make adjustments if needed by making a change in the position of the knife-edge dividing the weir. It is presumed that Engle's request was carried out (no further correspondence on the matter was located). What is apparent from the actions described in connection with the installation of the new weir and replacement pipeline is that the Office of Indian Affairs went to considerable lengths to ensure a fair division of Moccasin Spring water, in spite of the intense distrust displayed by the white residents of Moccasin. These feelings of distrust, however, were not at all one-sided; Farrow had expressed similar feelings for years.

At about the same time Farrow noticed that the water flow from Moccasin was diminishing, the reservation's use of water for irrigation was approaching its peak. From the time of its being set aside in 1907 and 1938, land irrigated on the reservation varied from 15 to 45 acres. In 1931, 44 acres were being irrigated. Meanwhile, Moccasin farmers were irrigating 90 acres of land. (By way of comparison, 22 acres were being irrigated on the reservation in 1914 versus 75 acres in Moccasin. [681])

Water was not the only area of contention between local ranchers and the reservation's agent. During the 1920s and early 1930s, issues of stock trespass, grazing permits, and grazing fees on Indian land were also areas of considerable conflict. [682] Local competition for water and grazing land was becoming particularly intense and, perhaps not surprisingly, increasingly antagonistic. The 10-year drought and onset of the Great Depression only worsened the situation.

Although Farrow and his family left the reservation to move to Cedar City, Utah, in 1926, Farrow continued to serve as the Indian Service's agent for the Kaibab Indian Reservation. [683] During the summer of 1928, two influential visitors from the East visited Anna Farrow in Cedar City (Dr. Farrow was away at the time). The two were Mary Vaux Wolcott of the Board of Indian Commissioners and John Collier, Office of Indian Affairs. [684] Collier already had the reputation of being a tough, zealous, and idealistic crusader for native rights. According to one source, he had heard that the establishment of Pipe Spring National Monument shorted the Indians water. [685] If the Indians were not receiving their share of water, he told Anna Farrow, he planned to launch a "press campaign in Washington, which would show up... the Park Service." [686] When Collier succeeded Charles J. Rhoads as head of the Office of Indian Affairs in May 1933, change at Pipe Spring was inevitable. [687]

56. Kaibab Paiutes hauling water, Kaibab Indian Reservation, 1932
(Photograph by C. Hart Merriam, courtesy of Bancroft Library, University of California).