PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Monument Administration

1956

In February 1956 Heaton learned that Pipe Spring National Monument would be allotted $300 to hire a park historian for that summer's travel season and that $3,000 was available to construct a comfort station. (See "Planning and Development" section for details on the latter.) Regional Chief of Operations David H. Canfield made an impromptu visit to Pipe Spring on March 27, 1956, en route to Zion National Park. Heaton learned from him that the monument might soon get two new residences. In a memorandum to Regional Director Hugh Miller, Canfield described Heaton's residence as "in rather miserable condition." [1650] He also stated that the pit toilets were in "pretty bad shape in every respect." (There were four there at the time.) Canfield recommended that lightning rods be installed on several tall trees near the fort rather than on the fort itself. "There is a faint hope that some day commercial electrical power will be available, but that day seems very indefinite," Canfield reported. [1651] He recommended that Heaton be given a backup generator, as the monument only had one. (When the monument's sole generator ceased functioning six months later, the family still had no backup plant on site.)

The new summer park historian was appointed in May 1956, Lloyd Snow Sandberg of Hurricane, Utah. On May 12 Sandberg stopped by the monument and found Heaton hauling gravel to the site of the new comfort station and assembling other materials for its construction. Although construction on the comfort station began May 18, 1956, the building would not ready for use until April 1957. A house trailer was delivered from Zion on May 25 for Sandberg's living quarters. It was located at the southeast corner of the meadow where it could be hooked up to lights as well as water and sewer lines. Heaton spent three days getting it ready for the new employee. Meanwhile, Edna and Olive Heaton washed all of the fort's windows, helping to get the place "spiffed up" for the upcoming Establishment Day.

On May 31, 1956, the monument celebrated Establishment Day, recognizing the establishment of Pipe Spring National Monument on May 31, 1923. The "Hepworth boys" played old time music at the event, attended by 75 people. A program was presented under the trees on the east side of the meadow and a number of old-timers shared their memories. Loren C. Little, Kumen Jones, several Winsor family members, and Charles C. Heaton all spoke about the history of the site. [1652] (Kumen Jones, resident of Cedar City, was the son of Lehi W. Jones, part owner with David D. Bulloch of the Pipe Spring ranch, 1895-1902. Kumen spent his boyhood at Pipe Spring.) Superintendent Franke outlined plans for the monument under the Mission 66 initiative. Bryce Canyon's Superintendent Glen T. Bean and Chief Naturalist Carl E. Jepson attended, along with their wives.

96. Park Historian Lloyd S. Sandberg, 1957 (Photograph by Leonard Heaton, Pipe Spring National Monument, neg. 19).

Lloyd and LaNorma Sandberg and their three children arrived at the monument on the evening of June 7, 1956, and moved into the trailer house. [1653] On June 8 Sandberg entered on duty as the monument's first seasonal park historian. Heaton was impressed with the young man, and wrote in his journal that night, "It is evident he has been studying all the literature... as he is able to conduct visitors like an old hand through the fort explaining the history and the like.... He should do an excellent job as park historian." [1654] Sandberg received a belated Arizona Strip-style welcome to Pipe Spring on July 9 when he discovered a large rattlesnake in the upstairs of the fort. With Sandberg's hiring, the monument could now officially be open to visitors seven days a week. In addition to giving guided tours, Sandberg spent a good deal of his time conducting research on the history of Pipe Spring. During the summer of 1956, his research activities included interviewing old-timers in Kanab, Moccasin, and St. George. In July Sandberg began compiling a historical handbook for the monument, whose first draft was completed in 1957. [1655] On July 17, 1956, Sandberg moved his family to Hurricane where his pregnant wife could be closer to the hospital and a doctor's care as her due date approached. On August 11 a baby girl, named Lucinda, was born to the Sandbergs. Lloyd Sandberg's tour of duty at the monument ended that year in early September. (He taught school in Hurricane during the school year.) On August 30, as an appropriate send-off, Heaton reported, "Killed a large rattlesnake at the back door of the fort this evening." [1656]

Plans for installation of a lightning protection system on the fort were received in March 1956 with an allotment of $400 for the installation. Finally, during the summer of 1956, the fort was given lightning protection. On June 14 and 15, five lightning rods and cable were installed on the building by two Zion staff and a hired laborer. While they may have afforded increased protection against lightning, they created a security problem, as will be referenced later.

The monument's budget for fiscal year 1956 could not cover the cost of both the lightning protection system and the completion of the comfort station. The comfort station thus had to be built in several stages over more than a one-year period. Heaton must have expressed some frustration over Zion officials' handling of the project, for on August 1, 1956, he reported that, while at Zion for a staff meeting, Assistant Superintendent Art Thomas "gave me a bawling out about my critical comments about the comfort station and how it was planned and materials got. Guess I was a little outspoken, but it looks like I could be considered a little more on what is planned and work projects for this area and [I] sometime wonder if they would like me out." [1657]

In early August 1956, construction worker Wayne Simms asked Heaton if he and his crew could camp on the monument for about six weeks with three trailers while doing some reservoir construction work on the Kaibab Indian Reservation. Heaton agreed to the arrangement, but there were five trailers instead of three. On August 17 Heaton went to Zion and met Park Service Director Conrad L. Wirth. He learned on this trip that the monument would be getting an increase of $1,170 in management funds for fiscal year 1957, which would enable him to hire a laborer for a month. Heaton stayed for a party thrown for Wirth during which - abstinent Heaton observed - some men "got more [drinks] than was good for them." [1658]

Heaton found himself in hot water again when, on August 24, 1956, the monument received an inspection visit from Washington and regional office officials. He wrote in his journal that evening, "Don't think they liked what they saw, that I was using the fire hose and pump [to clear pipelines]. Also critical of campers and Simms and lightning rods on the fort. Need to put one on the flagpole. Also the little dog Plundy was a sore spot. Will have to keep her away as a little girl got scared of the dog. So I guess I am in the dog house again." [1659]

When Heaton attended staff meeting in early September 1956, he was told that Director Wirth did not approve of Heaton's acting superintendent title, "so may get a new title soon," he wrote. [1660] (His title was viewed as an anomaly because Pipe Spring had no superintendent, thus how could there be an "acting"? Nonetheless, Heaton's title was left unchanged. After he retired in 1963, however, his successor's title became "management assistant.") Heaton was given permission to hire a laborer to cover for him on weekends during the early fall. After that time Edna Heaton and the children volunteered their services again until the next summer when they left for Alton. During September the monument's only generator broke down. The following day, a backup plant was brought up from Zion for the family's use and the main plant was taken to Zion for repairs. The backup generator played havoc with the family's lighting and appliances, burning out the Heaton's deep freezer. The repaired plant was reinstalled 10 days after its initial breakdown.

On September 17, 1956, regional officials visited the monument to inspect the fort and to make notes for improvements and repairs. The officials reiterated the need for stabilization of the fort's southwest corner. They objected to the manner in which lightning rods were placed on the fort. The men identified needed work on the east and west cabins and recommended that the monument get new tables for the campground (the old CCC-era log tables were still in use). Heaton was told during the officials' visit that if Congress approved, a permanent park historian would be assigned to the monument in July 1957.

The Zion staff meeting for October 3, 1956, was notable for its brevity. Heaton reported, "Was the shortest Supt. Franke ever held and [he] let the fellows go listen to the baseball game." [1661] Due to drought conditions, the month was a hard one for stockmen on the Arizona Strip. Heaton reported that cattle were being moved to mountain pastures; some were in very poor condition. "Some very poor heads being sold as the owners do not have any winter feed and can't afford feed for their stock," Heaton wrote in his journal. [1662] Work began in October on modernizing the monument's telephone system. The new dial telephone required the line be changed over from underground to overhead. (Heaton reported the underground cable had become "shorted out too much" for dial system use.) The work was not completed until March 7, 1957, when Heaton reported, "The last of the work in changing from the old crank telephone to dial phone was completed today. The dial system went into operation Saturday at 12:10 p.m. The monument number [is] MI-3-5505." [1663]

In April 1956 Heaton asked Zion officials for permission to remove the old cattle corrals located at the monument's southwest corner. These were the last of the corrals at the monument associated with cattle ranching operations. Heaton wrote Superintendent Franke,

This corral is not being used to any great extent now that most of the cattle are trucked from one pasture to another. I would recommend that this old cattle corral be taken down. The material in this corral was once used where the camp area is now located, built by owners of the springs about 1888 or 1890. [1664]

There were once corrals in the area southeast of the fort in the area of the old campground. These are the ones that Heaton refers to above as having been built. From Heaton's statement, it appears that the southwest corner corrals were built in the 1920s of salvaged materials resulting from Pinkley's efforts to clean up the landscape after the site was made a national monument. Heaton added that a new boundary fence would need to be installed in the area of the corrals once they were removed. In November 1956 Heaton hired his son Leonard P. to clean out the cattle guards at the east and west entrance, to rebuild one-quarter mile of boundary fence, to remove the old cattle corrals, and to cut up the salvaged wood for campground use. All this work was completed in December 1956. Enough human remains were encountered during the removal of the corrals that Zion officials later suspected the area was a burial ground. They asked that it be depicted on maps included in the monument's 1959 master plan. [1665] (See figure 97.)

97. General Development, 1959 Master Plan
(Courtesy NPS Technical Information Center).
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window - ~67K)