
Water Source, Campsite, Ranch
In 1858, Jacob Hamblin and others traveling to the Hopi mesas, crossed the Arizona Strip with a Paiute guide. They stopped one night at Matungwa'va, which they renamed Pipe Spring. As a result of their stories of abundant grasslands and scattered springs across the Strip, by 1860 Pipe Spring was being used as a waterhole and campsite for ranchers.
James M. Whitmore, a Texas convert to Mormonism, received a land certificate for 160 acres around Pipe Spring in 1863. Whitmore and his ranch hand Robert McIntyre, established a ranch with approximately 400 longhorn cattle and 1,000 sheep. They built a small dugout for shelter, fenced 11 acres for cultivation, planted grape vines and fruit trees, and built corrals.