Capitol Reef Administrative History

CHAPTER 13:
WATER RIGHTS AND WATER QUALITY AT CAPITOL REEF (continued)

REFERENCES

Books And Department Of Interior Reports

Arrington, Leonard J. Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958.

"Capitol Reef National Park: Statement for Management." 1984, 1987, 1989, draft 1993.

Crampton, C. Gregory. "Mormon Colonization in Southern Utah and Adjacent Parts of Arizona and Nevada, 1851-1900," unpublished manuscript, 1965.

Gilbert, Cathy A., and McKoy, Kathleen L. "Cultural Landscape Assessment, Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, Utah." Prepared for National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, September 1992.

______. "Cultural Landscape Report: Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, Utah." Draft prepared for National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Cultural Resources Division, 1993.

Hanks, Sidney A., and Hanks, Ephraim K. Scouting for the Mormons on the Great Frontier. Salt Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1948.

O'Bannon, Patrick W. "Capitol Reef National Park: A Historic Resource Study." Prepared under contract for National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, June 1992.

"Proposed Wilderness, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah." Draft Environmental Statement, prepared by National Park Service, Denver Service Center, June 1994.

White, David R. M. "'By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them': An Ethnographic Evaluation of Orchard Resources at the Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah." Prepared under contract for the National Park Service, Capitol Reef National Park and the Rocky Mountain Region, February 1994.

White, Richard. "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of The American West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.

Worster, Donald. Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985.

Newspapers

The Richfield Reaper. 3 March 1993.

Salt Lake Tribune. 8 December 1991.

Archives

Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, Utah:

Capitol Reef National Park Archives, Visitor Center Library

Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files, Administrative Annex

Capitol Reef Resource Management Files, Resource Management Office

Capitol Reef National Park Superintendent's Files, Administrative Annex

National Archives, Suitland, Maryland:

Record Group 49, Records of the General Land Office, Salt Lake City, Homestead Final Proofs and Certificates.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.:

Record Group 79, Entry 46, Records of the National Park Service, Water Matters.

National Archives and Record Center, Denver, Colorado:

Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service Accessions:

79-60A-354
79-64A-571
79-67A-337
79-67A-505

University of Utah, Marriott Library Special Collections, Salt Lake City.

Manuscript Collection 100, Charles Kelly Papers.

Interviews

Jackson, Kent. (Lead Orchard Worker, Capitol Reef National Park) Telephone interview with Bradford Frye, 11 August 1994.

Jeffery, Garn. (Rancher, Wayne County). Interview with Keith Durfey. Notes, 10 September 1994. Administrative History Files, Capitol Reef National Park.

Lundy, Charles V. (Superintendent, Capitol Reef National Park) Telephone interview with Bradford Frye. Tape recording, 29 July 1994. Administrative History Files, Capitol Reef National Park.

Pace, Guy. (Rancher, Wayne County). Interview with Bradford Frye. Tape recording, 13 February 1991. Capitol Reef National Park Archives.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Richard White, "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993), 401-402; Donald Worster, Rivers of Empire: Water, Aridity, and the Growth of the American West (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), 88-92.

² Ibid.

³ Leonard J. Arrington, Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958), 53.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Patrick W. O'Bannon, "Capitol Reef National Park: A Historic Resource Study," prepared under contract for the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, June 1992, 33-34; C. Gregory Crampton, "Mormon Colonization in Southern Utah and Adjacent Parts of Arizona and Nevada, 1851-1900," typed manuscript, 1965, Box 5, Folder 5, Capitol Reef National Park Archives.

⁶ Homestead Act Final Proof Papers, Thisbee R. Hanks, Homestead Application No. 12494, Final Certificate No. 6406, Sections 20 and 29, Township 30 South, Range & East, Salt Lake Land Office (14 June 1899), Box 140, Records of the Bureau of Land Management, Record Group 49 (RG 49), National Archives, Suitland, MD.; Sidney Alvarus Hanks and Ephraim K. Hanks, Scouting for the Mormons on the Great Frontier (Salt Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1948), 229; O'Bannon, 39-41.

⁷ Homestead Act Final Proof Papers, Nels Johnson, Homestead Application No. 12513, Final Certificate No 5648, Sections 14, 22, and 23, Township 29 South, Range 6 East, Salt Lake City Land Office (25 January 1897), Box 136, RG 49, National Archives, Suitland, MD.

⁸ Homestead Final Proof Papers, Elijah Cutler Behunin, Homestead Application No. 12760, Final Certificate No 7026, Section 15, Township 29 South Range 6 East, Salt Lake City Land Office (1 June 1901), Box 149; Hyrum S. Behunin, Application No. 12761, Final Certificate No. 7746, Section 22, (29 October 1904), Box 159; Leo R. Holt, Application No. 12978, Final Certificate No. 6137, Section 14, (8 May 1899), Box 136, all in RG 49, National Archives, Suitland, MD. Also see O'Bannon, "Historic Resource Study," 24-27.

⁹ 1895 Survey Plat, published 1896, Drawer 3, Folder 2, Capitol Reef National Park Archives.

¹⁰ Cathy A. Gilbert and Kathleen L. McKoy, "Cultural Landscape Report: Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park," draft prepared for National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Cultural Resources Division, July 1993, 4-43. This draft landscape report also contains detailed descriptions of the evolution of each orchard. Also see Gilbert and Kathy McKoy, "Cultural Landscape Assessment, Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, Utah," prepared for National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, September 1992, 9, 38. O'Bannon, 32-34 also gives an extensive description of early orchard practices and provides other sources of information.

¹¹ The original deeds and affidavits are recorded with the Wayne County Clerk, Loa, Utah. Examples can found among the copies of deeds and affidavits found in File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files, Administrative Annex, Capitol Reef National Park.

¹² David R. M. White, " 'By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them': An Ethnographic Evaluation of Orchard Resources at the Fruita Rural Historic District, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah," prepared under contract for the National Park Service, Capitol Reef National Park, Rocky Mountain Region, February 1994, 18-19; O'Bannon, 27-38.

¹³ Freeman Tanner, Water Commissioner, "Fremont River Distribution, June 10, 1937 to July 10, 1937," File CR-660-05.7, Accession 79-60A-354, Container 63181, Box 3, Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79 (RG 79), National Archives-Rocky Mountain Region, Denver, Colorado (hereafter referred to as NA-Denver); partial copy in L54-Sulphur Creek Water Rights, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files, 1 (hereafter called the Tanner Report).

¹⁴ Decree, Hanksville Canal Company v. Torrey Irrigation Company, Sixth Judicial District Court of the State of Utah, Loa Utah, 15 July 1935, photocopy found in File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

The Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law are not found in the L-54 Docket file but may possibly be located in the Wayne County Courthouse in Loa. These documents may shed light on the specific priority claims for each water user.

¹⁵ Ibid., 2.

¹⁶ Ibid., 3.

¹⁷ See copies of deeds in File L-54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files, Administrative Annex, Capitol Reef National Park.

¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁹ Tanner Report, table of water decreed, used and land irrigated.

²⁰ Ibid., 6-7.

²¹ Ibid., 4, table on gage readings and discharge in second feet.

²² Hendricks to Patraw, 27 June 1938, File CR-660-05.7, 79-60A-354, Box 3, RG 79, NA-Denver.

²³ Stanley to Patraw, 14 September 1938, Ibid.

²⁴ Harlan Stephenson, Resident Landscape Architect, "Monthly Narrative Report," 25 April - 25 May 1938, File NPS-000, Box 1, Ibid. See Chapters 5 and 16 for more details on CCC work at Capitol Reef.

²⁵ Superintendent's Annual Report, 1941, File CR-207-01.4, 79-60A-354, Container 63179, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver. Zion National Park supervised Capitol Reef from 1937 to 1960 except for a short time in the mid-1950s.

²⁶ A. van V. Dunn, National Park Service Hydraulic Engineer, to Superintendent Franke, 4 April 1941, File CR-601, 79-60A-354, Container 63180, Box 2, RG 79, NA-Denver.

²⁷ Ibid.

²⁸ Ibid.

²⁹ A. van V. Dunn, "Analytical History of Land Title, Section 14, T. 29 S., R. 6 E., S.L.M." 8 October 1942, photocopy in File L54, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files, 17. This document contains a considerable amount of detailed information about Fruita land transactions and property description prior to NPS arrival.

³⁰ "Water Right Deed 3, Acquisition of Alma Chesnut Land and Water Rights," (n.d., post 1947), File L54-Dockets, Historic Superintendent's Files contains a list of all deeds and other legal document pertaining to purchase; also see copies of deeds in the same file.

³¹ Judgment of Taking, United States v. Five Parcels, Alma Chesnut, et. al, Civil No. 376, 23 July 1942, Wayne County District Court, Loa, Utah; copy in File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

³² Superintendent Franke to Regional Director, 22 March 1943, File CR 201-06, 79-60A-354, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

³³ Charles Kelly, Diary, 19 January 1944, Charles Kelly Papers, Box 1, Folder 1, Manuscript Collection 100, University of Utah Library Special Collections, Salt Lake City.

³⁴ Fred Fagergren, Zion Chief Ranger to Zion Superintendent, 9 February 1944, File CR 650-03, 79-60A-354, Box 3, RG 79, NA-Denver.

³⁵ Memorandum dated 8 August 1946, File CR 600-01.2, Box 2, Ibid.

³⁶ Kelly to Superintendent Smith, 27 September 1949, File CR 660-05.7, Box 3, Ibid.

³⁷ Smith to Regional Director, 18 October 1949, Ibid.

³⁸ Kelly to Zion Superintendent, 20 September 1950, File CR-660-05.7 (Part III), 79-60A-354, Box 3, RG 79, NA-Denver. The following events are also recounted in Chapter 6.

³⁹ Ibid.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ Acting Assistant Director Cook to Regional Director, 13(?) October 1950 and Arthur B. Demaray, Assistant Director, to Regional Director, 14 November 1950, Ibid.

⁴² Demaray to Regional Director 14 November 1950.

⁴³ A. van V. Dunn, Chief, Water Resources Division, to Regional Director, 14 March 1952, Ibid. This letter contains a great deal of information about the status of water rights during this time.

⁴⁴ "Application for Extension of Time Within Which to Resume Use of Water, State of Utah," (attached to Demaray to Regional Director 14 November 1950 memorandum). This seems to be a sample copy since there is no application number. The Utah State Engineer or other state office may have the original application.

⁴⁵ See various correspondence from the end of 1950 through 1952 in File CR-660-05.7, 79-60A-354, Box 3, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁴⁶ See Mission 66 planning documents, File A9815, Accession 79-67A-337, Container 919498, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁴⁷ Hugh M. Miller, Regional Director, to Director, 13 April 1956, File L54- Historic Compacts, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files; Superintendent's Monthly Reports, July 1956, Box 4, Folder 3, Capitol Reef National Park Archives.

⁴⁸ Lloyd O. Leslie, Public Health Service, "Report on Inspection of Sanitary Facilities, Capitol Reef National Monument, Utah," October 1951, File CR 660-03, Accession 79-60A-354, Box 3, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁴⁹ See correspondence in File D5031, 79-64A-571, Container SB 202382, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁵⁰ Gene B. Welsh, Public Health Service, "Report on Inspection of Sanitary Facilities," July 1958, Ibid.

⁵¹ Kelly to Zion Superintendent, 21 August 1958, Ibid.

⁵² Superintendent's Monthly Reports, March-April 1959, Box 4, Folder 3, Capitol Reef National Park Archives.

⁵³ See memoranda, reports, and correspondence in Files A9815 and L1415, Accession 79-67A-337, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁵⁴ Declaration of Taking, U.S. v. 284.31 acres, Civil No. C-95-61, U.S. District Court, District of Utah, Central Division, 2 June 1961, 2; copies in L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

⁵⁵ Max and Elizabeth Lewis purchased 1.133 c.f.s. Upon her husband's death, Mrs. Lewis married Richard Sprang. Another .75 c.f.s. came with land purchased from Dewey Gifford prior to the Sprangs' arrival in the area.

⁵⁶ U.S. v. 284.31 acres, Exhibit II, Schedule A. The Brimhall property was divided into two parts, with 17 acres set aside for the highway right-of-way and employee residences. The remaining 37 acres were purchased separately as a life estate the following year. The Sulphur Creek water rights, which had been passed down from Aaron Holt's claims, are addressed later.

⁵⁷ See exhibits (descriptions of property) and schedules related to Declaration of Taking, Ibid. Useful in tracking the transfer of water rights from the 1935 decree to 1963 is a table called "Distribution and Transfer of Water Rights 8.00 c.f.s of Water-Fruita Residents," compiled by L. Sando in October 1962 and revised in May 1963. It is found in File L54-Historic Compacts, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

⁵⁸ Final Judgment in Condemnation, U.S. v. 284.31 acres, 30 November 1962.

⁵⁹ The documents pertaining to these land sales and Declaration of Takings are in the L1425 and L54, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁶⁰ Superintendent William Krueger to Regional Director, 27 July 1962, File L54, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's File.

⁶¹ Curtis E. Richey, Sanitary Engineer Director, NPS Consultant, "Field Trip to Capitol Reef National Monument, 20 July 1963," File D5031, 79-67A-505, Container 342490, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁶² There are numerous field reports and correspondence related to the various hearings before Wayne County Judge Ferdinand Erickson and the state engineer between April 1963 and July 1965. These are in L54-Historic Compact and L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁶³ Order, Hanksville Canal Company v. Torrey Irrigation Company, Sixth Judicial District Court for Wayne County, Civil No. 167, copy in L54-Dockets.

⁶⁴ Fields to Assistant Regional Director, 27 May 1963, L54- Historic Compacts. These records do not show if such a full-time position was ever created, but it is doubtful since later correspondence states that there were still no adequate record of water use.

⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁶⁶ Ibid.

⁶⁷ Ibid.; Superintendent Krueger to Regional Director, 11 June 1963, Ibid.

⁶⁸ Thomas J. Allen, Regional Director, to Wayne D. Criddle, State Engineer, 7 May 1963, L54-Historic Compacts; Daniel B. Beard, Regional Director, to Regional Solicitor, 28 May 1965, and J. Stuart McMaster, Regional Solicitor, to Hubert Lambert, Acting State Engineer, 6 July 1965, File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁶⁹ Fields to Regional Director, 27 May 1963.

⁷⁰ Jay R. Bingham, Executive Director, Utah Water and Power Board, to Superintendent Krueger, 24 August 1959, File D30, 79-67A-337, Container 91948, Box 1, RG 79, NA-Denver.

⁷¹ Franke to Bingham, 3 September 1959, Ibid.

⁷² Krueger to Franke, 30 August 1959, Ibid.

⁷³ "Application to Appropriate Water, State of Utah," Application No. 32509, submitted 29 November 1965, copy in L54-Historic Compacts, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files. The proposed reservoir's western end would have been about 1 1/2 miles east from the current national park boundary. It would have inundated the cottonwood grove near the river ford road access.

⁷⁴ Superintendent Krueger to Regional Director, 13 February 1964, File L54-Historic Compacts.

⁷⁵ Application No. 32509. During 1962, another reservoir application was filed by Stewart and John Campbell, who owned the former state school section on the monument's eastern boundary. They proposed to divert 40 c.f.s. and make a small, 300 acre-foot reservoir. It was projected, however, that the water would not back up into the Capitol Reef - A. van V. Dunn, Chief, Branch of Water Resources to Regional Director, 15 August 1962, File L54-Historic Compacts, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁷⁶ Krueger to Regional Director, 13 February 1964; Daniel Beard, Regional Director, to Regional Solicitor, 24 February 1964, Ibid.

⁷⁷ Beard to Regional Solicitor.

⁷⁸ Reed to Regional Director, 6 March 1964.

⁷⁹ See notes from phone conversations between unknown National Park Service official (most likely Superintendent Wallace) and Glen Willardson, Garkane Power Company, 8 May 1973, and Robert Murcock, Utah Division of Water Resources, 11 May 1973, File L54-Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files. These notes provide good information on the various water impoundment proposals associated with the proposed IPP power plant on Salt Wash north of Caineville, only 10 miles east of Capitol Reef National Park. Also see "Proposed Wilderness, Capitol Reef National Park," Draft Environmental Statement, prepared by National Park Service, Denver Service Center, June 1974, 12-28.

⁸⁰ Aaron Holt, Affidavit of Use of Water, 14 June 1945, Wayne County Book of Deeds, Book G, 393; Silas Tanner, Affidavit of Use of Water, 15 June 1945, Ibid. Copies of these affidavits are found in File L54-Sulphur Creek, Historic Superintendent's Files. This is not the Freeman Tanner of the 1937 Tanner Report.

⁸¹ Reid W. Nielson, Regional Solicitor, to Grant Chappell, River Commissioner, 29 April 1977, Ibid. A copy of this diligence claim is in the same file but does not appear to be an approved copy, since it does not have a number. According to the solicitor's letter, the diligence claim number was 2772, State Engineer's File No. 95-747.

⁸² See copies of Certificates of Appropriation in File L54-Sulphur Creek. Also see Dee C. Hansen, State Engineer, to Ralph Lowe, Don Pace, and Capitol Reef, 26 April 1977, Ibid.

⁸³ 1966 various correspondence in File L54-Sulphur Creek, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁸⁴ Wallace to Hunt, 17 June, 1976, File L54-Sulphur Creek, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁸⁵ Donald L. Pendleton, BLM District Manager to Hunt, 1 September 1976, Ibid.

⁸⁶ Wallace, Affidavit, 5 May 1977, copy in L54-Sulphur Creek.

⁸⁷ Wallace to Regional Director, 21 September 1977, Ibid.

⁸⁸ Ibid.

⁸⁹ "Summary of Meeting of Sand and Sulphur Creek," 15 May 1978, Ibid.

⁹⁰ See Chapter 17 for more information on the purchase of the Knee property.

⁹¹ Kenwood H. McKinney, Utah Division of Water Rights, to William Mekeel (McKeel?), Chief, Division of Water Resources, 15 January and 16 January, 1976 and Statements of Water User's Claims, 95-4003 through 95-4005, Sixth Judicial District Court, Wayne County, Utah, dated 1 December 1983. Copies are in File L54-Knee, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

⁹² Bureau of Land Management, "Approval of Right-of-Way," 20 September 1956, copy in L54-Oak Creek, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files.

⁹³ Ken Wyrick, Tercero Corporation, to Superintendent Derek O. Hambly, 28 January 1982, Ibid.

⁹⁴ See correspondence in File L54, Capitol Reef Historic Superintendent's Files, and maps in Drawer 4, Capitol Reef National Park Archives. Additional information was provided by Kent Jackson, Lead Orchard Worker, telephone interview with Bradford Frye, 11 August 1994.

⁹⁵ See court documents and correspondence related to In The Matter of All Rights to the Use of Water, Both Surface and Underground, within the Drainage Area of the Colorado River in Kane, Garfield, Wayne, Piute, Emery, Sevier and Sanpete Counties, Utah and Exclusive of the Green River and Virgin River Drainages, Case No. 435, Sixth Judicial District, Wayne County, Utah, 1983; partial records found in File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

⁹⁶ Homer L. Rouse, Associate Regional Director, to John R. Hill, U.S. Department of Justice, 5 December 1983, File L54-Dockets, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files; also see "Statements for Management," 1984, 1987, 1989 and draft 1993, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

⁹⁷ Garn Jeffery, interview with Keith Durfey, 10 September 1994, notes on file in Administrative History files and notes; Guy Pace, Rancher, interview with Bradford Frye, 13 February 1991, Capitol Reef National Park Archives, 31.

⁹⁸ 1983 Annual Superintendent's Report, File A2621, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files, 8.

⁹⁹ Envirosphere Company, Golden, Col., "Water Quality at Capitol Reef National Park," Final Report, prepared under contract for the National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, May 1981, Capitol Reef Resource Management library.

¹⁰⁰ 1989 Superintendent's Annual Report, File A2621, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files, 5; Charles V. Lundy, Capitol Reef Superintendent, telephone interview with Bradford Frye, 29 July 1994, tape on file, Capitol Reef Unprocessed Archives.

¹⁰¹ 1992 Annual Superintendent's Report, 5.

¹⁰² 1986 Superintendent's Report, File A2621, 8.

¹⁰³ Michael W. Straus, Commissioner, to J. A. Krug, Secretary of Interior, 23 June 1949, File XL 102, Part 8, 1948-49, Box 44, Entry 46 "Water Matters," RG 79, National Archives, Washington, D.C. This letter contains a list of all possible project sites on the Colorado River drainages.

¹⁰⁴ "Proposed Wilderness," June 1974, 12-28.

¹⁰⁵ Ibid.

¹⁰⁶ 1989 Superintendent's Annual Report, 5; 1990 Report, 2; Capitol Reef's comments and objections to the dam, dated July 1991, are found in File L54, Capitol Reef Superintendent's Files.

¹⁰⁷ Salt Lake Tribune, 8 December 1991.

¹⁰⁸ Utah Wilderness Association to Tobias Martinez, Fishlake National Forest Supervisor, 15 June 1992, File L54.

¹⁰⁹ Richfield Reaper, 3 March 1993.