PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Completing the Division of Water

After months of frenzied CWA program activity, things began to settle back to normal at Pipe Spring. Heaton reported to Superintendent Pinkley in April, "I could not resist the call of the garden this spring, so I have plowed up a plot of ground and planted me a garden just south of the meadow. Talking about gardens brings up the question of the water. I have been wondering if anything is going to be done about it this year." [867]

In fact, Dr. Farrow, Kaibab Indian Reservation superintendent, had not been idle on the issue. In mid-November 1933, Farrow spoke with Heber Meeks of Kanab. Meeks had assured Farrow that if the Indian Service purchased the pipe, the cattlemen would lay the pipeline from tunnel spring. The Indian Service then proceeded to obtain the materials. On February 2, 1934, bids were opened by the Office of Indian Affairs on 15,600 feet of four-inch, 16-gauge steel pipe for the construction of the cattlemen's pipeline from tunnel spring to the border of the reservation. The total cost of supplies needed for the pipeline was estimated at $4,600. Before the contract was awarded, Supervising Engineer L. M. Holt informed Office of Indian Affairs Commissioner John Collier that, "we know little regarding the stockmen, whether or not they will be ready to do the work of trenching and laying the pipe when the same is delivered, and line located on the ground." [868] Holt recommended that Farrow be allotted the funds for the work and be put in charge of making arrangements with the stockmen for laying the pipe. Farrow then attempted to recontact Meeks, only to discover he had since died. He wrote to Lee Esplin to find out who had succeeded Meeks as head of the stockmen's committee. [869]

While CWA projects were still underway at Pipe Spring, Langley, Cowell, and Heaton had decided the division box should be placed on the west end of the fort ponds. Heaton informed Superintendent Pinkley in his April report that Dr. Farrow had said the Indian Service was buying three miles of four-inch pipe, that it would be delivered May 15, and that their engineer would be installing the division weir. (The weir was being designed by Cowell.) Heaton doubted that he could sufficiently water the meadow without the flood method, but said with resignation, "I will do the best I can." On a more upbeat note, a proud father announced, "On April 9 a nine lb. boy arrived here to help with the monument work. Mrs. Heaton and baby are getting along just fine." [870] This was the couple's fifth child and fourth son, named Lowell.

On May 3, 1934, Park Engineer Cowell, N. A. Hall (Indian Service Engineer), and Dr. Farrow met with Heaton at the monument in preparation for measuring the flow of the springs and installing a division weir. [871] The Indian Service approved the division weir design suggested to Cowell by Chief Engineer Kittredge with the exception of the weir plate. The Indian Service had a design for a weir plate that Cowell agreed to send to Chief Engineer Kittredge for approval and fabrication; consequently, it was not installed until almost one year later. Hall and Cowell measured the flow by the weir method on May 7 with Charles C. Heaton present, representing the cattlemen's interests. The flow for the main spring (referred to as the "historic spring") was 34.03 gallons per minute; for tunnel spring, 8.12 gallons per minute. The combined flow was 42.15 gallons per minute. A division into thirds provided 14.05 gallons per minute to each party. It was decided that the elevation of tunnel spring could not serve the needs of the Park Service or Indian Service, but met all the requirements of the stockmen. It was agreed that the stockmen would receive all the water from tunnel spring along with 5.93 gallons per minute from the main spring. Three discharge lines were to be installed at the division box, one for the Tribe's pipeline, one connecting to the monument's water system, and one that discharged into the tunnel spring. [872]

From May 8-10, 1934, Indian Service Engineer Hall supervised three Indian CCC workers as they installed the division structure. The concrete box measured 42 x 42 x 42 inches on the inside and had six-inch walls. It contained three compartments, 12 x 18 x 42 inches in size, and a two-inch outlet pipe located three inches from the bottom of the box. The weir was to be placed about 12 inches below the top of the box. The top of the division box was level with the water of the ponds. On May 16 the Indian Service re-laid a two-inch pipeline to carry water from the division structure to a point outside the eastern boundary of the monument. On the same date, the Park Service connected a two-inch cast iron pipe from the structure to the monument's water system. The system directed water to the south side of the monument where the corrals and chicken houses were located and east to the campground. When Heaton tested the system about a week later, he found the campground was getting insufficient water through the line, but that other points were receiving enough water. [873] "It looks to me as if some other method must be found to get the water to the trees on the north side of the campground or the campground will have to be moved to a lower level if trees are to be grown on it," Heaton reported to Superintendent Pinkley. [874] The alternatives, Heaton suggested, were to hand-carry water to the trees, purchase and install a pump, or construct an open ditch to irrigate the trees. None of these alternatives was practical, however, and the following spring officials decided to relocate the campground south of the road where it could be gravity fed with water.

The division of the water was held up further awaiting the construction of the brass weir plate at the Branch of Plans and Design. [875] The stockmen's pipeline also had yet to be constructed. In late May the pipe for the stockmen's pipeline finally arrived. Farrow had it delivered to the monument on May 28 and informed Heaton that the stockmen could begin immediately to lay the pipe. The stockmen refused to lay the pipe, complaining that the 16-gauge sheet iron pipe purchased by the Indian Service would not last more than three to five years in the mineral soil and that they'd been told the pipe would be galvanized. [876] Heaton reported the Indian Service pipe was "tarred" and that its value was decreasing the longer it sat in the hot sun, tar melting, awaiting installation. So the Indian Service had no choice but to trench and lay the pipeline themselves. The pipeline was 2.25 miles long and terminated about 250 yards outside the reservation on land leased by Charles C. Heaton. [877]

That wasn't the only problem, however. Heaton dreaded losing the meadow pond that had been filled by tunnel spring. "A lot of swimmers come there to cool off," Heaton told Pinkley. [878] Of course, the pond had always furnished irrigation water for Heaton's family garden and it was often stocked with fish, so there was more at stake than visitor recreation. The stockmen feared they would be getting less than their one-third share if the meadow pond remained, due to evaporation and seepage. Heaton assured them they had never needed the full one-third in the past. He asked Pinkley if he could rock up or cement the bottom and sides of the pond if the stockmen would let it remain. Pinkley responded that if the cattlemen insisted, the monument would have to do away with the pond, but he agreed with Heaton that their cattle would never need their full one-third share of water. He suggested running a ditch around the pond to allow bypassing the pond when the cattlemen needed more water. No funds were available to cement or rock-line the ponds, Pinkley told Heaton. [879] Heaton then brought up another problem. As the horses "have not learned to drink out of a faucet," he asked if he could construct a concrete watering trough for them and place it "somewhere near the head of the meadow." [880] Apparently, this was a need that had never occurred to Park Service planners and designers back in San Francisco! Pinkley approved his request, but asked Heaton to have Langley draw up the plans and choose the site for the trough.

On August 3, 1934, a crew of 15 Indians began digging a 2.5-foot deep trench to lay the stockmen's pipeline. Farrow informed Heaton that they would not turn the water on until the stockmen constructed cement or wooden troughs outside the reservation boundary for the water to run into. The cattlemen protested they didn't know how they were going to finance such construction as cattle sales had been so bad, which was indeed true. Heaton was incensed that Farrow had once again issued an ultimatum. Tensions escalated again over water. Heaton went to Kanab to meet with the stockmen where,

For some reason which I could not find out, they all blew up and I could not get any word or suggestion in that they would listen to. They even went so far as to suggest that they get their water from the main spring as they were owners of one-third. Some expressed that they had no faith in any of the Government Services and wanted to get as far away and have as little to do as possible with them.

This much I did tell them, that the Park Service did not work against the stockmen and that the water that the stockmen got was coming from the tunnel and from the division box to the west end of the ponds... [881]

Leonard Heaton was caught in the middle. Superintendent Pinkley advised him "to remain neutral in any controversy between the Indian Service and the Cattlemen." [882] The details of how this particular impasse was resolved are undocumented. The pipeline was completed and all tunnel spring water turned into it on September 4. By September 18 several leaks were repaired and the pipe was covered. By the time Heaton filed his monthly report on the 24th, the meadow pond was nearly dry.

In August 1934 an allotment of $900 was given to Pipe Spring under the Public Works Administration program for completion of the monument road. Park Engineer Cowell and his wife spent several hours on September 21 at the monument so that Cowell could gather data related to the roadwork. During this visit, Cowell also delivered the long-awaited weir plate for the division box (it would still be more than six months before it was installed). Meanwhile, plans for the monument road were being completed in the Park Service's San Francisco office. In October Pinkley informed Heaton that the funds for the road were not sufficient to complete the road, parking area, and cattle guards. Pinkley wanted the cattle guards to be built first and then the parking area finished. That way, Pinkley explained, Heaton could begin the landscaping around the parking area. [883]

Heaton was already in a planting mode. In early October 1934, he reported that he was getting "more ground ready to set out more trees this fall around the campgrounds, and my sheds to the south." [884] Heaton later wrote to Pinkley of his plans to plant cedars and pines "to help take away the bareness of the land that has been farmed on [the] east side" and to gather and plant some cacti to "help nature to bring back the plant life on the monument..." [885] A dispute erupted over water between Heaton and Reservation Agent Parven E. Church in November when Church learned Heaton was using pond water to irrigate campground trees. [886] Heaton reported the incident to Pinkley, expressing annoyance that the "the Indian Service has made no attempt whatsoever this summer to use the water that has been running into their pipe, which for the most part of the summer has been about half of the water from the ponds by the fort." [887]

Also in October, the Mohave County Board of Supervisors wrote Superintendent Pinkley to request that a new road between Fredonia and Pipe Spring be built as "in wet weather the road is practically impassible." [888] As 19 of the 20 miles passed through Indian reservation and since tourists were the primary users of the road, the letter argued, couldn't a new road be constructed using 100 percent federal aid? [889] Believing the road might qualify as an approach road, Pinkley forwarded the letter to Cammerer and asked that a preliminary survey and estimate be directed to see if the road could be requested under emergency construction or other emergency funds. In December Park Engineer Cowell was instructed to prepare a map that showed the location of the proposed road. The map was prepared and sent to Pinkley at the end of December. [890] At least 90 percent had to cross government-owned land for it to qualify as an approach road. Cowell informed Pinkley that lands adjacent to the road were government owned, and with the exception of the monument, were all part of the Kaibab Indian Reservation. A more formal road survey for the Fredonia-Toroweap approach road was completed in 1937 and will be described later in this chapter.