Navajo Administrative History

The 1980s were not an easy decade for the Park Service. Until the ascent of Russell Dickenson in 1980, the Park Service had suffered under nearly a decade of short-term directors. Its strong historic leadership seemed to have disappeared. Like much of the federal bureaucracy, the Park Service was full. Many people in their forties and fifties had reached positions of leadership at mid-career. But those who followed them, including many of the rank and file rangers, had little opportunity for upward mobility. Attrition in the NPS grew, as talented people left the agency for other opportunities. [37]

At Navajo, a new superintendent helped to smooth the move to the modern agency ideal. In 1980, Stephen T. Miller arrived at Navajo as Hastings' replacement. He brought a style of management suited to the 1980s. Miller managed in a more aggressive, more comprehensive manner than his predecessors, instituting the values of the new Park Service. Yet he was extremely popular with his staff, and was regarded as the "best superintendent [one could] ever work for." Miller accelerated the pace of activities at the monument, successfully delegated responsibility to his staff, kept on top of many topics, and cared for individual employees. Considered patient and fair by his staff and his superiors, Miller received high marks. Miller also worked to make Navajo more inclusive. He appointed John Laughter, one of the many Laughters who worked at the park, as maintenance foreman. Laughter was the first Navajo to become the head of a department at Navajo National Monument. It was a moment of pride for Navajo people in the region, and it accentuated the strong ties that followed the Memorandum of Agreement. Communication among the staff was good during Miller's tenure, and morale remained high. [38]

After a six-year stint, Miller was succeeded by Clarence N. Gorman, the first Navajo superintendent at Navajo National Monument. Gorman was a veteran of more than twenty years in the Park Service. He had begun as a seasonal ranger at Canyon de Chelly National Monument after serving in the Korean Conflict and attending Arizona State College in Flagstaff. He spent the summer of 1964 at Navajo National Monument as a seasonal, and progressed up the NPS ladder until he became superintendent of the monument. A native of Chinle, about sixty miles from the monument, Gorman's appointment was something of a homecoming. [39]

For area Navajos, Gorman's appointment was a milestone. "It's good to have a superintendent who speaks Navajo," remarked Bob Black, the most senior of the retired park employees in the region, and others concurred. Despite designation as a prehistoric site, Navajo National Monument had long addressed Navajo themes and issues in interpretation. Since the 1950s, individual Navajos had been interpreters at the monument. A number of seasonal interpretive rangers had been Navajo, and after Gorman became superintendent, emphasis on Navajo culture became stronger. In addition, the park became even more deeply entwined in the local community. Gorman and John Laughter attended local chapter meetings as representatives of the park and became a presence in local and regional tribal activities. Gorman served as Navajo-speaking coordinator for other park superintendents in Navajoland. He contributed to making the Park Service presence more visible to Navajo people in the area. [40]

As the region became more interdependent, the impact of the monument grew. The modern road added measurably to the importance of the monument, as did the growing number of permanent and seasonal positions at the monument filled by Navajo people. The number of Navajos living in the vicinity of the park grew following completion of the road, for it became a magnet that provided a lifeline for people in the area. The increase in use was so dramatic that the NPS requested that chapter presidents in the area inform members that they too created an impact on the road and that their cooperation in the maintenance and care of the road would increase its longevity. [41]

With the growth in population, the visitor center parking area became a thruway. Numerous local Navajos passed through one section against the flow of traffic. They saw the road as a thoroughfare. The Park Service response was typical of professional traffic control managers. Speed bumps and curbed islands were installed, pedestrian crosswalks restriped, and more comprehensive directional signs were placed in the area. The result was a measure of compliance, but at the end of the 1980s, Superintendent Gorman envisioned another road constructed as a loop around the parking area to accommodate local Navajo needs. [42]

Under Gorman, the Park Service retained strong ties in the area. The monument continued to serve as a center for the region, a place for area Navajos to go to get their problem solved. With a Navajo as superintendent in addition to seven of the other ten permanent employees, the monument and the dollars it generated were an integral part of life in the vicinity.

In a major cultural and behavioral change, Navajo visitors to the monument became increasingly common in the 1980s. Despite cultural prohibitions that historically kept them away from Anasazi ruins and anything associated with death, more Navajos began to express curiosity about the ruins. Many were as interested in the interpretation of Navajo culture as in prehistory, and a number expressed appreciation at the interpretation as well as the number of Navajo faces in NPS uniforms. [43]

Managing each of the individual units of the monument posed unique problems. Located adjacent to the tract containing the Visitor Center, Betatakin's issues generally reflected access and visitation. The cross-canyon trail that had opened in 1963 had significant dangers. Winter moisture caused a consistent pattern of rockfall just above the half-tunnel on the trail. In 1978 and 1981, inspectors concurred with park officials that the overhang on the trail presented a significant hazard. Between March 18 and 25, 1982, a major fall occurred. As much as nine and one half tons of sandstone toppled on the trail, while more fell all the way to the canyon bottom. The pattern of falls indicated that the spring was the most likely time for such an occurrence, but the NPS could not afford to take any chances. The threat of injuries to visitors on the trail was real indeed.

The situation led to closure of the trail at the beginning of the 1982 visitation season. Charles B. Voll, the acting general superintendent of the Navajo Lands Group, and Superintendent Miller reviewed the findings of United States Geological Survey geologist Frank Osterwald and agreed that the trail could not be kept open. Repairing, securing, and reopening the trail required, in Voll's words, "a sizeable chunk of money," and the park had to explore other ways to get visitors to the canyon bottom. [44]

The Tsegi Point route was the logical alternative. The initial approach to the monument after the opening of the Shonto road, it had much to recommend it. Yet there were disadvantages. The departure point to the canyon bottom was a little more than one and one half miles from the visitor center, but it was not easily accessible. There was no auto road to Tsegi Point, nor any facilities at the departure point. Nor did the Park Service administer the land on that side of the rim. There were a number of fence gates that had to be opened and closed on the route. This made a difficult walk into one largely impossible for the average visitor. Most were not tuned to the cultural sensitivities on which they intruded. The closure of the cross-canyon trail represented a setback for access at Navajo National Monument.

To counter this setback, the Park Service took extreme measures. The Tsegi Point route was opened, with school busses employed to carry visitors the one and one-half miles to the point. The busses averaged only four miles to the gallon, making this an expensive way to convey visitors to the ruins trail. The safety of passengers in large awkward busses on a narrow trail was also questionable. The grade to the point was steep in numerous places, and the trail barely merited the label "road." Nor were bus gears and brakes designed for such conditions. While the bus trip to Tsegi Point eliminated the danger of falling rock, it had drawbacks of its own. [45]

The result was an effort to use the resources of the monument to make the Tsegi Point trail more accessible. In 1989, the park expanded the parking area for cars near the trailhead for Tsegi Point. While this made for a longer hike, it allowed for greater contact between interpretive rangers and the public. For the monument, the expanded parking area eliminated the high cost and questionable safety of busses on the narrow road.

By the late 1980s, guided walking trips had again become the primary means through which visitors reached Betatakin. Yet beginning in 1990 and continuing in 1991, budget limitations curtailed the number of tours to two a day. The monument simply did not have enough money to permit more. The implications for Navajo were vast. An evident decline in visitation numbers from 70,932 in 1989 to 64,275 in 1990 seemed to result from the inability of visitors to sign up for a tour on the following day. With only forty-eight people per day permitted into the canyon, the sign-up que for the tour always involved waiting. Campfire programs were another casualty. At the campfire circle, one of the essential Park Service interpretation activities took place. At Navajo in the late 1980s, the stones remained cold to the touch. "It's hurting us," remarked Superintendent Gorman as he pondered the funding situation. [46]

At Betatakin itself, the overall conditions remained good. The closing of the cross-canyon trail limited visitation even further below the limit established by the NPS. While curtailing the use portion of the Park Service mandate, this situation had a healthy positive influence on the preservation side of the equation. Fewer people meant a generally smaller adverse impact, but a number of ecological issues related to use existed. Park Service inspectors recognized a need for a use plan that balanced visitor safety and use.