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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	PIPE SPRING NATIONAL MONUMENT Arizona
Location: Mohave County, on Ariz. 389, about 15 miles south west of Fredonia; address: c/o Superintendent, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah 84767. Pipe Spring National Monument

The Mormon extension southward from the Salt Lake Basin and the achievements of the Southwestern pioneers are exemplified in this National Monument. In the 1850's the Mormons began dispersing from the basin to locations in southern Utah and northern Arizona that provided water. As centers of defense against Indian attacks and way stations for travelers, Brigham Young established forts at strategic locations. Pipe Spring National Monument contains probably the best remaining example of such a fort.

Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona. Strategically located frontier forts, such as Pipe Spring, helped extend Mormon settlement southward from the Great Salt Lake into Arizona.

Although the Escalante expedition of 1776 passed nearby, the first white men known to have visited Pipe Spring were members of the Jacob Hamblin party, who camped there in 1858. They had been sent out by Young to explore and report on the Colorado River country and try to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Navajos living on the south side of the river. Between 1863 and 1865 Pipe Spring was the headquarters of a Mormon cattle ranch, but a marauding band of Navajos killed the inhabitants.

The Mormon Church then acquired the property. Between 1869 and 1871 Bishop Anson P. Winsor built the fort that became known as "Winsor Castle." The fort consisted of two redstone buildings, two stories high, that faced each other across a courtyard. Sandstone walls and heavy gates enclosed the courtyard on either side of the buildings. The firing platform just below the top of one wall and the associated loopholes that remain today were planned for use during Indian attacks. A continuous flow of water was insured, for one of the buildings stood directly over a spring. Bishop Winsor left Pipe Spring about 1875. The place then became important as a cattle ranch and as the starting point for cattle drives to the railroad at Lund, Utah, more than 100 miles away.

Pipe Spring, consisting of 40 acres, was established as a National Monument in 1923. In addition to the fort and outbuildings, it features displays of pioneer tools and furnishings. Many interesting forms of vegetation and wildlife prosper in the vicinity. Park rangers conduct tours daily.