Navajo Administrative History

Among the three sections of the monument, Inscription House faced the most serious circumstances. The least visited, least protected of the ruins in the monument, it had survived because it was inaccessible. Prior to MISSION 66, few visitors made it to the site, and occasional patrols, signs, and a register constituted the NPS presence. But the road-building program brought greater numbers of people to the vicinity of Inscription House. One of the major roads built on the reservation passed by Inscription House Trading Post on its way to Page. As travel increased in this remote area, many more potential visitors were in the proximity of Inscription House. The limited protective measures of the past became inadequate.

For the monument staff, there were problems of adjustment. During the early 1960s, there had been almost a complete turnover of park personnel. Many of the people who worked at Navajo before the MISSION 66 development had chosen the place precisely because it was remote. The changes made it less appealing. Following the departure of Superintendent Art White in March 1965, the last of the original generation made plans to leave the park. From White to Bud Martin to Robert Holden, all expressed a measure of sadness about the changes they recognized as imminent. [17] Nevertheless, their replacements had to learn to manage at an entirely new level of responsibility and accountability.

But as the impact of visitation and the leveling off of funding hit simultaneously, the park staff was left to fend for itself. Park personnel decided that curtailing services, particularly at Inscription House, was the best response to the changes they faced. The reports of patrols throughout 1966-67 showed that conditions at the site were rapidly worsening. Self-guiding trail markers had been uprooted and tossed aside, picnic fires had been built, vandals had rolled large boulders through the protective fence, and a number of the prehistoric ceiling beams were used for campfire fuel.

The initial response of the NPS reflected a desire to keep the ruin open to visitors. In an effort to avoid more depredation, the NPS removed a number of the signs and roadside guide posts announcing the site. In essence, the Park Service sought to keep the ruin open by increasing the degree of difficulty associated with traveling there. Officials initially hoped that this would keep visitation from rising. To prevent visitors from strewing garbage around the area, the Park Service added a picnic table. But such measures presumed that outsiders were responsible for the depredations. This approach did not take the culpability of local people into account. Damage to the site suggested that more comprehensive measures would be necessary.

Late in July of 1968, park staff made a crucial decision. As of August 1, Inscription House ruin would no longer be open to the public. Two factors necessitated the closing. The cancellation of the ruins stabilization program and the lack of workpower to do an adequate job for such a fragile ruin made visitation impossible. Remaining signs guiding the way to Inscription House were removed, as the Park Service decided that the merits of visitation to this outpost of the system were less important than providing adequate protection for a fragile and damaged prehistoric site. Rather than offer the twin benefits of increased popularity and greater enjoyment and understanding for visitors to Inscription House, increased access that resulted from paved roads led to exponentially greater impact on delicate resources. [18]

Inscription House was not the only portion of the monument affected by these changes. In the winter of 1968-69, Superintendent Binnewies announced that during the winter, the monument would offer reduced operations, services, and hours. Even after the completion of the approach road, visitation decreased dramatically in the winters. Pack trips to Keet Seel were impossible because of bad weather, and even Betatakin was hard to reach. Curtailed services saved money, and less contact with the public allowed more time for stabilization, repair, and other maintenance activities. [19]

The problems at Inscription House compounded the lack of funding for park programs. Since the turn of the century, erosion had threatened cultural resources along the wash. The bottom of the canyon was permeable, which meant that any standing puddle of water eventually seeped to the level of the arroyo and undercut the surface. Eventually this caused the surface to collapse, widening the existing arroyo and making greater erosion a certainty. By the middle of the 1960s, a number of archeologists had commented on the problem, but little had been done. In 1968, Archeologist Albert Ward, who worked there with George J. Gumerman in 1966, pushed for action. By the early 1970s, work was again underway at Inscription House. [20]