Hubbell Trading Post Cultural Landscape Report

DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES

Issue 1: Rehabilitation of Agricultural Landscape and Gardens

In an effort to enhance the visitor's experience of the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, it is recommended that both the agricultural fields with their associated fruit and nut trees and irrigation system and the vegetable gardens be considered for rehabilitation by the park. While the rehabilitation of one or both of the vegetable gardens will be relatively straightforward with only a few issues and concerns, the rehabilitation of one or more of the agricultural fields and the fruit and nut trees requires a much higher commitment from the park staff and introduces a number of issues and concerns that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner.

The following discussion is arranged to cover the proposed rehabilitation action, issues or guidelines that need to be addressed, and general concerns with regard to resource management and overall operations.

Vegetable Garden West of Hubbell Residence

This garden area was utilized by the Hubbell family for specialty crops including corn, beets, sweet potatoes, and peanuts. As mentioned previously the beds were terraced and irrigated using the check system that Hubbell established for his larger alfalfa fields. This rehabilitation of this garden could greatly enhance the site's interpretive quality in addition to providing fresh produce for park staff.

Guidelines for Rehabilitation: The terraces were a significant character-defining feature for this garden and should be re-established to reflect their historic layout (figure 52). The use of a small irrigation ditch with simple stone headgates was also significant, however it was fed by and part of the much larger irrigation system that fed the entire field system.

Ideally, the rehabilitation of the irrigation system is recommended. However, due to the fact that the main irrigation system won't be operative for several years an two alternative watering sources are recommended — drip system or covered soaker hoses. Both of these alternatives have low visibility and are water conservative making them much more desirable than the park's current method of using an above ground rotating sprinkler.

Crops grown in this garden plot should represent those that have been documented to have been cultivated historically. While using some of the historic or heirloom plants would be desirable and would provide valuable interpretive material for visitors, it is not essential.

Concerns: The primary concerns with regard to the proposed rehabilitation of this garden plot involve labor and pest management. Tending a garden of any size is labor intensive and will require a commitment by park staff or volunteers. Pest management will also require a commitment and should follow Park Service policy and regulations to insure that only those products approved for use and following the Service's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach should be utilized.

Vegetable Garden South of the Stone Bunkhouse

Following J.L. Hubbell's management and operation of the trading post, this garden plot became the family's primary vegetable garden site. The variety of vegetables grown within this plot was immense and seemingly changed from year to year as was common with most vernacular gardens. No terraces were evident during field investigation but a former park employee noted that the area was cultivated by the NPS years ago and this activity might have obliterated any early terrace features. [194] If not, it is possible that row irrigation was utilized in this area. Several years ago the park submitted a proposal to rehabilitate this garden plot, however the area was not planted. The rehabilitation of this garden plot would serve to pull visitors into the surrounding landscape and would function as a discovery site for photographic opportunities and well as interpretive exhibit.

Guidelines for Rehabilitation: Other than maintaining the original layout of this enclosed garden plot there are very few guidelines recommended for the rehabilitation of this garden. By clearing and plowing the area within the enclosure, rows can then be established and again either a drip irrigation or soaker hose watering system can be utilized. The use of overhead sprinklers is strongly discouraged as it is not visually compatible with the historic landscape and is extremely wasteful of water in an arid environment.

Again, it is recommended that heirloom varieties be considered for cultivation as they have the potential to contribute to a landscape interpretive program and the visitor's overall experience within the historic landscape.

Concerns: As with the garden west of the Hubbell residence, the primary concerns with regard to the proposed rehabilitation of this garden plot involve labor and pest management. Tending a garden of any size is labor intensive and will require a commitment by park staff or volunteers. Pest management will also require a commitment and should follow Park Service policy and regulations to insure that only those products approved for use and following the Service's Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach should be utilized.

Agricultural Fields

Of the five terraced agricultural fields established in 1902 by J.L. Hubbell and used for the cultivation of oats, rye, and eventually alfalfa, three are being recommended for rehabilitation treatment (figure 111). The two fields that are not recommended for rehabilitation include the field to the far eastern edge of the homestead that has been converted into the park's housing and maintenance areas and the western field that has apparently always been a challenge to keep irrigated due to the fact that it is higher in elevation than the surrounding lands. In addition to the fact that the western field was difficult to cultivate and likely produced low yields historically, concerns regarding the potential for increased erosion of archeological site HUTR-10 resulted in this field being removed from the area recommended for rehabilitation.

The three fields that are recommended for agricultural rehabilitation include the field immediately north of the Hubbell reservoir, east of the trading post and the two fields (within the Big Field) that are located west of the lane and south of the corrals. In addition to rehabilitating the irrigated terraces for the cultivation of forage crops in these fields, the rehabilitation might also include the re-introduction as well as the preservation of many of the fruit trees along the irrigation laterals.

Guidelines for Rehabilitation: In order for crops to be reintroduced to the Hubbell landscape, irrigable waters must be available. The completion of the reconstructed Ganado Dam and Reservoir is a first step in this direction yet there is still a great deal of work necessary before water will once again flow on the Hubbell lands.

In rehabilitating the fields it is imperative that the historic check or terrace irrigation system be retained as it not only provides much needed water control to prevent erosion but is a highly visual character-defining feature of the historic landscape. The terraces are still readily evident today and their dimensions, grade, and overall layout is described by Peterson. [195] The re-establishment of the terraces should follow the historic patterns which according to Peterson included "twelve to fifteen yard wide terraces, each dropping from top to bottom (generally east to west) but maintained grade between borders (generally south to north) and then dropped a foot or so to the next terrace. This process was repeated on down the ditch. Once established, check irrigating was relatively simple, as water was let into each terrace and ran on it until it was completely flooded." [196]

In following the historic model for re-establishing the terraces, the historic patterns of the irrigation system must also be followed to insure an operable system. All of the stone headgates along the various laterals have been located and are included on the existing conditions base map. Most of the stone from these structures is still found within the general vicinity of each headgate although new stone will be required for many due to weathering and exfoliation of the softer limestones.

The use of other means of getting water to these fields areas should be considered if waters are not available through the existing irrigation system. The re-establishment of the fields is critical to the rehabilitation of this historic landscape.

The cultivation and rotation of crops grown historically is recommended and might include oats and rye to establish the field as the Hubbells did then follow those nurse crops with alfalfa. The alfalfa should provide a relatively low maintenance crop compared to other field crops or grains as once it is established it should just require cutting and mowing two to three times per year. There should also be a local market for the alfalfa as it is quite costly when brought in from outside markets for local use.

It should be noted that alfalfa can be a very water consumptive crop and if water proves to be scarce in the area other forage crops such as Pauite orchard grass or smooth brome should be considered in lieu of the alfalfa. The rotation of crops should be practiced regardless. With the potential for limited irrigation water the park should consider the use of rotation/fallow cycles with the two fields to the west to reduce water consumption yet retain the open character of the historic fields. The use of cover crops such as rye with a perennial grass should be considered for the fields that are in a fallow and unirrigated cycle. This can later be tilled under for "green manure" and the cultivation rotation can begin again.

Concerns: There are numerous concerns and issues that need to be addressed prior to deciding upon a rehabilitation treatment for the Hubbell agricultural landscape. These concerns range from environmental or natural resource and NPS policy requirements to staffing and operational/management needs. Some of the environmental concerns include the removal of the existing prairie dog community, water run-off and potential erosion problems associated with run off, and pest management involving both the crops and possible mosquito concerns resulting from the re-introduction of water to the site.

As with the discussions regarding the preservation of the existing historic fruit trees, there are numerous pest management concerns that must be addressed by the park prior to implementing a rehabilitation treatment and introducing additional fruit trees and field crops. The pests that are associated with fruit tree management include borers, codling moths, cankerworm, grasshoppers, aphids, scale, curculios, and Japanese beetles. Pests associated with alfalfa include weevils, beetles, caterpillars, armyworms, aphids, and cutworms to name but a few.

If rye or oats are used as crops to prepare the beds, they too have pests that will require management and control including Hessian flies, chinch bugs, saw flies, jointworm, and of course armyworms. The National Park Service has policies and regulations which prevent the use of many off the shelf pesticides that are routinely used by farmers. An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach is required and will require a great deal of staff time and coordination with the 1PM coordinator for the Intermountain Region.

Although it has been suggested that the park work out an agreement with an outside party to perform the farming activities this will require many hours of close supervision to insure that the historic guidelines are met as are the requirements of the IPM approach to management. Historic leasing agreements can be very time consuming for staff and with Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site having a limited staff this needs to be considered thoroughly. Ideally, an 1PM coordinator or specialist should be on site to deal with the day to day management issues that will likely result from the rehabilitation of the agricultural landscape.

Additional concerns involve the repairs of the extensive 2.5 miles of irrigation canal that leads from the Ganado Reservoir to the historic site. This system is in need of major repairs and will require many labor-hours to complete them. The Park Service should pursue a multi-agency agreement that will jointly fund the cost of repairs and operation/maintenance of the system. The work might be best completed using a job corps type approach that will benefit the community as well as the park. Agreements will also be needed to insure the use of the Hubbell reservoir and access to the head ditch and any laterals that are not solely on Park Service property.