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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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PIPE SPRING NATIONAL MONUMENT
Arizona
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Location: Mohave County, on Ariz. 389, about 15
miles southwest of Fredonia; address: c/o Southern Utah Group, National
Park Service, P.O. Box 749, Cedar City, Utah 84720.
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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, they established at strategic locations a series
of forts, such as Pipe Spring in Arizona and Cove Fort and Fort Deseret
in Utah. Pipe Spring National Monument contains probably the best
remaining example of such a fort.
Although the Dominguez-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 Brigham Young to explore and report on the Colorado
River country and to 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 cattle ranch run by a Mormon, but some
marauding Navajos killed the inhabitants.
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Pipe Spring National Monument.
(National Park Service) |
In 1869 the Mormon Church acquired the property.
Within a couple of years Bishop Anson P. Winsor built a fort that became
known as "Winsor Castle." It consisted of two redstone buildings, two
stories high, facing each other across a courtyard. Sandstone walls and
heavy gates enclosed its sides. The firing platform just below the top
of one wall and the associated loopholes remaining today were designed
to withstand 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 became important as a cattle ranch and
as the starting point for cattle drives to the railroad at Lund, Utah,
about 100 miles away.
Park rangers conduct tours of the fort and
outbuildings. Exhibits feature pioneer tools and furnishings.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/sitea5.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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