GILA CLIFF DWELLINGS Administrative History

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

In 1934, isolated in the heart of the largest legislated wilderness in the Southwest, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument was the most remote of the monuments under Pinkley's jurisdiction. Although in earlier years he had argued the merits of transferring control of all prehistoric sites to the Southwestern Monuments group, Pinkley's ambition was constrained by the site's inaccessibility, low budgets, a small staff, and possibly the initial confusion over the monument's status.

Not until the following year did Pinkley even send an agent to assess the monument he had inherited from the Forest Service. In March 1935, G. H. Gordon, an assistant engineer for Southwestern National Monuments, became the first employee of the Park Service to see Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. Gordon arrived on horseback after riding 20 miles through the wilderness. Subsequently, he said in his report that the ruins were indeed worthy of recognition, [13] a comment suggesting a debate that has largely faded from the record. [14]

Included in Gordon's report were a ground plan of the ruins and five recommendations for the development of the monument: (1) constructing an approach trail; (2) formally mapping the ruins and including them on the stabilization program; (3) building a fence across the canyon, above and below the ruins; (4) surveying the area of the monument; and (5) appointing a local "dollar-a-month" custodian.

No immediate administrative action sprang from these recommendations.