PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Natural History

In late June 1979, two representatives from the Arizona Commission of Agricultural and Horticulture visited the monument in relation to their gypsy moth program. They left five traps with Park Technician Dale Scheier to place around the monument. The Audubon Annual Christmas Bird Count was held on December 22, 1979, with five volunteers counting 28 species.

In 1980 well-known Arizona birder Gale Monson submitted a proposal for studying the migration of birds through Pipe Spring. While the Zion Natural History Association agreed to fund the study, no report has been located and the project may never have been carried out.

Archeological and Historical Research

In early 1980, $20,000 was allotted for what was called a "Historic Resource Study" of Pipe Spring National Monument. The description of work, however, actually called for four studies: a resource study, structure report, administrative history, and analysis of current furnishings in the fort to determine their historic appropriateness. In addition, the project was originally to be funded over a two-year period, but received funding for only one year. The amount budgeted ended up being woefully inadequate for the amount of work called for, particularly after it was decided that a Denver Service Center (DSC) historian would do the work (DSC had a 40 percent overhead). Historian A. Berle Clemensen was assigned to work on the project. No task directive was prepared for the project, so Clemensen spoke with monument staff about their needs. They informed him they needed a structure report and analysis of current furnishings for the fort. He told them he lacked the expertise to analyze the fort's furnishings but that he would include a section on any furnishings descriptions he found from individuals connected with Pipe Spring in the 1870s-1880s. According to Clemensen, he soon after notified Regional Historian John Albright of his conversations with monument personnel and described the direction the project was taking. Albright consented to the type of study Clemensen proposed to do. Regional Architect Rodd Wheaton was also informed of his plans and made no objections.

The product of Clemensen's research was the report, "Historic Structures Report, History Data Section, Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona," with the first draft completed in December 1980. Monument staff reviewed and commented on the draft in March 1981. [2375] The Regional Historic Preservation Team commented in May, advising that the report's "Furnishings Overview" section be deleted entirely on the basis that Clemensen lacked the expertise to write such a section. In addition, it was felt the report did not fulfill the requirements "as perceived" by the Regional Historic Preservation Team, stated Associate Regional Director Richard A. Strait. [2376] Clemensen responded to everyone's comments in a memorandum transmitted to region through Assistant Manger Robert J. Shelley, Midwest/Rocky Mountain Team, DSC. Shelley advised Strait's office that Clemensen's report fulfilled the needs of the park and met the requirements of the NPS standards applicable at the time he wrote the report. [2377] The author revised the draft to address monument comments and resubmitted it in 1982, but the report never satisfied the regional office. Consequently, it was never published, but even in draft form contains much useful historical and architectural data.

In September 1984, NPS Historian Susan A. Tenney completed a National Register of Historic Places nomination for Pipe Spring National Monument. The National Register accepted the documentation on August 25, 1986. [2378]

Other than Park Service archeologists surveying specific areas to provide Section 106 clearance for projects, the only other archeological investigation was carried out at the monument in 1990 when a survey was completed around the east and west cabins (see "The East and West Cabins" section).