PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Pipe Spring as A Gathering Place

Pipe Spring has served as a gathering place at many different points of its history. Before and after becoming a national monument, it was a natural gathering place for ranchers. For a number of years after the creation of the monument, cattlemen held meetings at Pipe Spring, such as the one Leonard Heaton noted in a 1930 report to Pinkley: "August 24th, the cattlemen of this region met here to discuss their range problems as to cattle thieves, cattle sales, and etc. They brought their wives and we had a fine crowd." [594] The following year, Heaton reported: "Our visitors this month have been mostly cattlemen and riders gathering cattle for sale: there have been about 40 men here the last few days handling about 3,000 head of cattle. It sure seems like the good old cattle days [to] have them back." [595] Heaton reported the low spirits of cattlemen that October 1931, due to low prices and "not many buyers." In August 1932, 16 Arizona Strip cattlemen met at Pipe Spring to discuss "their troubles and the range conditions." [596] Similar meetings were held throughout the 1930s. Heaton seemed to look forward to the fall cattle roundups. Heaton wrote in September 1932, "The cattlemen are now gathering the steers for sale and in a few days this place will be alive with cowboys and cattle, reminding one of the old days when Pipe Spring was a cattle ranch." [597]

The year 1933 was the first ever that Heaton could recall the region's annual fall roundup not being based at Pipe Spring. Usually cowboys rounded up several thousand head of cattle each fall, camping at Pipe Spring the last three or four days of their effort to get steers to market. That year ranchers had to graze their cattle on other parts of the range, the grazing was so poor in the area. In October Heaton reported that only 100 or so were at Pipe Spring and that "they were cattle that are pastured [in the area] most of the time." He mused that the corrals in the monument's southwest corner "will soon be all that will be left to remind us of what was once a common sight here in the past." [598]

The monument provided a congenial atmosphere for social gatherings. In October 1931 the Young Men's and Young Women's Association of the LDS Church held a Halloween party at the fort. Heaton reported on the success of the event, which had 67 attendees: "Whites and Indians all joined in and had a very good time.... After all the 'spooky' places were visited, we all met in the upper house and danced and ate watermelons." [599] This is the only Halloween party reported to have been held at the monument. On May 20, 1940, Heaton reported the Stake M Men and Gleaner Girls had a moonlight party and supper at the monument. Summer outings by boy scout troops and Beehive Girls from Kanab, Fredonia, and Moccasin were also common through the years. [600] School groups often made outings to the monument over the years, especially toward the end of the school year. Most children came from schools in Kanab, Fredonia, Moccasin, Hurricane, and Short Creek, but at times they came from as far away as St. George. The Kaibab Indian Reservation's school children also made outings to Pipe Spring. School groups usually toured the fort, picnicked, and/or played ball while at the monument.

Numerous other social groups, as well as Church and civic organizations, held outings at Pipe Spring throughout its history as a monument. Heaton reported that during the month of July 1933 eight parties were held at Pipe Spring with a total attendance of 171. [601] Group picnics, dances, chicken roasts, barbecues, and swimming parties were common. The site was also frequently used for family reunions over the years. Also quite common (particularly in the 1940s and 1950s) were Easter weekend outings at the monument. [602] On May 17, 1941, Heaton reported a group of men and boys from Kanab Stake "came out to get acquainted with early history of their ancestors that settled southern Utah and northern Arizona." [603] Many people had family ties either to the site itself or to the area, and coming back reminded them and their children of a shared history. Others enjoyed the old buildings, the ponds, and the shade of large towering trees. These had long been there. What was much newer by the later 1920s was the absence of fencing, corrals, and water troughs from the immediate fort area and the growing expanse of green irrigated meadows, gardens, and fruit trees.