PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

The Establishment of DG-44

On June 10, 1935, Director Cammerer received the following radiogram message:

Request authority to locate our DG Forty Four in Pipe Springs National Monument area northwest Arizona and to use approximately six thousand gallons of water daily from springs supplying the monument area (stop) Present capacity of springs now fifty-five thousand gallons per day (stop) Army recommend [sic]as only possible site (stop) Kindly wire answer - OTT Division of Grazing ECW Salt Lake City. [901]

The request was approved and plans proceeded for the Grazing Service to locate the CCC camp at Pipe Spring. A brief description of the camp's purpose is provided below, prior to a description of their operations.

The Taylor Grazing Act was passed on June 28, 1934. This was the first law ever passed by Congress to regulate grazing on the public domain. [902] The Grazing Service was established on July 17, 1934, to administer the Taylor Grazing Act. [903] Its objectives were conservation of natural resources by prevention of overgrazing, range rehabilitation by development of necessary facilities for efficient range utilization, stabilization of the livestock industry through cooperation with local stockmen, orderly use of the range, enforcement of trespass regulations, and enforcement of local rules on range practices. The establishment of the CCC provided the primary means by which the agency carried out its range improvements. Seven camps were allotted the Grazing Service in April 1935. By the end of fiscal year (FY) 1936, the agency administered 45 camps. Camps were established in 58 grazing districts in 10 western states. [904] Projects initiated and carried out from these camps were suggested and approved by the local advisory boards of the grazing districts who knew the most urgent needs of the districts. Projects included water hole construction, reseeding of burned over range, fence building, surveying and map making, construction of stock bridge and trails, erosion control, flood control, eradication of poisonous weeds and plants, and cricket and rodent control. [905] Much of Arizona's 10,685,000 acres of public land was suitable only for grazing. By 1936, grazing districts comprised 7,000,000 acres of the state of Arizona. [906]

The establishment of a CCC camp at Pipe Spring National Monument in July 1935 and its four years of operations there had considerable impact both on the monument's development and on its landscape. On July 20 Landscape Architect Alfred C. ("Al") Kuehl, Southwest Region, visited the monument with Park Engineer Cowell and the decision to relocate the monument's campground to the southeast part of the monument was confirmed. This required the Grazing Service to modify its plans and to site the CCC camp operations in the monument's southwest quadrant.

Heaton was notified that officers and 10 CCC enrollees were being sent to establish the camp in mid-June. On July 4, 1935, U.S. Army and Grazing Service officials came to Pipe Spring to decide on a site for the camp. At 1:00 a.m. on July 12, 10 trucks arrived with 24 more enrollees and two officers. These were advance men for Co. 3298, DG-45 and Co. 3287, DG-44. The boys from Co. 3298 remained at Pipe Spring until July 22, when they returned to Black Canyon, Arizona. The 12 remaining boys soon returned to California, replaced by 10 boys from Utah. Construction materials for the camp arrived between July 17-24, until 200,000 feet of lumber had been delivered. On July 24, 23 enrollees began the work of building the camp, joined by 10 more workers on July 25. Heaton reported to Superintendent Pinkley on that date, "The head boss says that in about three weeks the camp will be about finished. If they keep up the speed of yesterday and today I think the camp will be ready for the Eastern Boys by the last of August, if not before." [907]

In late June 1935, Heaton told Superintendent Pinkley that the three rooms of the lower house of the fort were not enough space for his growing family. He asked permission to move to the upper house of the fort. Pinkley denied the request, reasoning that a permanent custodian's residence for the Heatons would soon be constructed under the Public Works program. Pinkley, Harry Langley, and Al Kuehl, discussed the custodian's residence and decided to try to have it built from ECW funds. On August 1 Kuehl asked Chief Architect William G. Carnes to prepare estimates for the cost of materials for the residence. Estimates were submitted to him on August 7, with the cost estimate ranging from $3,021 to $3,586. (The higher figure was for an alternate plan including an additional room.) In late September Heaton informed Pinkley he planned to move his family to Moccasin for at least the school year in order not have to make the trip back and forth twice daily to the school. [908] The family did not actually locate a residence and move until late February 1936. [909]

By mid-August 1935, most of the CCC camp was built. It included: eight 26-men barracks, an administration/recreation building, mess hall, hospital, officers quarters, shower house, garage, six smaller out buildings, a "cooler," powerhouse, cellar, latrines, and tool shed - 20 buildings in all. Heaton reported, "They have used most of the old west field down to the stockmen's corral and part of the meadow, on the southwest corner [of the monument]..." [910] On August 17 a dance was held in the camp's new recreation hall. Attendance was 140 with people coming from the neighboring towns. "A very enjoyable time was had by all," Heaton reported. [911] No word had yet been received by Heaton on when the main body of enrollees would arrive.

What effect did the camp's establishment have on the carefully worked out water agreement between the Park Service, Indian Service, and cattlemen? On August 15, 1935, an agreement was reached between these three groups, the Grazing Service, and the Army that the camp's water supply would be provided by the cattlemen's share of water. The agreement stipulated that if the cattlemen's share proved insufficient the Park Service, Indian Service, and cattlemen would furnish an additional 6,000 gallons per day, each furnishing an equal share not to exceed 2,000 gallons per day each. [912] It is unknown if the Grazing Service paid for the privilege of using the cattlemen's water or if the cattlemen simply expected to benefit in other ways by having the camp in the area.

On August 25, 1935, a severe flood occurred on the monument. A storm "turned loose on us all the water that it could in about two and one-half hours, causing the largest flood that we have had in several years and doing us a lot of damage," Heaton reported the following day. [913] The flood deposited trash, brush, and sand on the monument, stopping up the head of twin culverts installed by the CWA. As a result, the new drainage wash filled with sand and turned the water into the old channel, washing out the service road to Heaton's barn and hen house and covering up or washing out most of the irrigation ditches on the east side of the fort. Heaton estimated damage at about $350. CCC enrollees later carried out much of the repair work, along with making improvements to prevent future flood damage.

The monument's CCC camp was constructed during the fifth period of the ECW Program (April 1-September 30, 1935). Other than the construction of the camp, no monument projects were worked on during that period. The sixth period lasted from Oct 1, 1935, to March 31, 1936. The work program for the monument submitted for both periods consisted of nine projects. Some were completion of projects begun by the CWA crews. All projects were part of the approved 1935 master plan for the monument. On September 21 Cowell visited the monument to go over with Heaton a list of projects to be accomplished. In mid-October Hillory Tolson sent Pinkley a list of projects in his region whose applications were disapproved for funding by the National Emergency Council. Among them was the monument's water and sewer system. Without this infrastructure, plans to build permanent buildings at Pipe Spring could not go forward.

The impact of President Roosevelt's "about face" on the size of the CCC was being felt at Pipe Spring. As mentioned earlier, President Roosevelt's April 1935 directive to increase the size of enrollment to 600,000, was followed that same fall by instructions to Director Fechner to reduce the ECW back to 300,000 men by June 1, 1936. On October 11, 1935, Acting Associate Director Hillory Tolson informed Pinkley of how the cutbacks in manpower would impact developments at Pipe Spring National Monument. The allotment for sixth period ECW camps had been reduced from 2,916 to 2,427 camps and a reduction from 600,000 to 500,000 enrollees nationwide. Hillory wrote,

All technical agencies have been forced to reduce the number of camps originally allotted to them for the sixth enrollment period and consequently approval of your sixth period program has been withheld until this definite information was made available within the last few days. Every effort should be made to complete our approved program, since it appears probably that a further reduction in camps will be required for the next enrollment period. [914]

Tolson approved the work program for Pipe Spring with several stipulations, including a $1,500 building limitation and requirement that projects had to have approved plans. Tolson also requested the boundary fence "not interfere with the movement of wildlife," that the walks be made of flagstone instead of graveled ("to be in keeping with old developments") and that only native trees and shrubs be used in landscaping the campground. As the Grazing Service was to finance work undertaken, Tolson told Pinkley his cost estimates would have to be approved by the Grazing Service.

In either late September or early October 1935, the small group of CCC boys and officers at the monument were transferred to Vayo, Utah, to construct another camp. [915] Heaton had the place to himself during the month of October. During that month, Superintendent Pinkley asked custodians to begin keeping a daily diary of their activities. [916] Heaton expressed his approval of the requirement, writing, "for the past 3 years I have kept a personal diary written up every night or at least every week.... With a daily monument diary one would not have to worry and stew about his monthly report." [917] Heaton had a short entry at the end of October, then began keeping a daily work journal that continued until his retirement in 1963.

Camp DG-44 was administered by the War Department, which oversaw nine corps areas. The company assigned to Pipe Spring National Monument was Company 2557. [918] Company 2557 was designated a 5th Corps Area, thus its enrollees could come from Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and/or Kentucky. The company's initial officers were Capt. Earl S. Jackson, Lt. Donald A. Wolfe, Lt. John J. Prokop, Jr., and Lt. Ralph W. Freeman (the camp doctor). Aland Forgeon was the camp's first educational officer. [919] On October 29, 1935, Capt. Jackson and a small advance group of enrollees arrived at Pipe Spring to get the camp in shape for the main contingent.

68. Early photo of Camp DG-44, ca. late 1935
(Pipe Spring National Monument).

On October 31 Heaton received word that the CCC boys would arrive in Cedar City at noon the following day. At 8:00 p.m. on November 1, 180 junior enrollees from Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana arrived at the monument from Fort Knox, Kentucky. [920] Heaton reported on November 23, "We now have the largest town in Mohave County north of the Colorado River, and all on a 10-acre lot." [921] The photo shown here (figure 68) was most likely taken shortly after the camp's construction. This early view of the camp does not show later stone curbing at the entrance (probably added in 1936) or the education building, constructed in March 1938.

In addition to the Army officers, a number of U.S. Forest Service men were employed as instructors, supervisors, and foremen to teach classes and to oversee work performed by enrollees. DG-44 had six such men during the sixth period, with Hamilton A. Draper serving as project superintendent. It was Draper and Heaton who oversaw most of the work performed on the monument. On November 25 Capt. Jackson was transferred to St. George, and Capt. Alma S. Packer assumed command of the camp.

No Grazing Service projects were yet approved, so for the remainder of 1935 work focused on the monument. One group of 25 enrollees was immediately assigned to work on the monument. Another group worked on Hurricane-Fredonia road improvements. By Christmas 1935 Heaton reported the following monument projects either underway or completed: boundary fence, 65 percent complete; ditch diversion, 30 percent complete; flagstone walks laid out but not constructed (50 percent of the rock had been obtained). [922] Most work had been in the new campground area that had been staked out. [923] The following cuttings and/or trees had been set out in the campground: 25 Carolina poplars, 121 black locusts, 55 Lombardy poplars, 13 black cottonwoods, 5 ailanthus, 11 elms, and 32 silver leaf cottonwoods (153 total). [924] Some irrigation ditches were relocated and others were newly dug to irrigate campground trees.

T'was not all work and no play, however. During the sixth period, a tennis court, baseball diamond, basketball court, volleyball court, and boxing ring were constructed, presumably all within the monument. The camp owned an impressive amount of both indoor and outdoor athletic equipment, including two pool tables. Sports activities often pitched enrollees against boys in surrounding schools and communities. Boys attending Forgeon's journalism class published a bimonthly camp paper called The Pipe Post. The camp also had two libraries (one permanent and one traveling), and an upright piano. Just west of the camp barracks was the meadow pond that Heaton had built in 1926. Both are shown in figure 70, a photograph taken prior to the lining of the pool with sandstone.

Church services (one interdenominational and one Catholic) were conducted twice monthly by the district chaplain, in addition to two programs offered each month by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Three classes were held per day, five days a week. Classes were offered at three levels, elementary (reading and writing), high school (journalism, vocal music, history, shorthand), and college level (physiology, psychology). Vocational courses included baking, cooking, construction (building, concrete, road), photography, use of explosive powder, typewriting, and care and use of tools and trucks.

69. Trees being planted on the monument by CCC enrollees, probably 1935
(Pipe Spring National Monument).

70. CCC barracks with meadow pond in foreground, late 1935 or early 1936
(Pipe Spring National Monument).

The majority of enrollees attended the latter courses. Informal activities included woodworking, photography, drawing, drama, nature study, discussion groups, and safety meetings. Heaton too, assumed a new role, as he was asked to speak several times per month to the boys about the National Park Service and its sites (this was in addition to the fort tours he always gave whenever a new group of enrollees arrived). Not all the CCC boys were "happy campers," however. In early December, 21 enrollees were discharged for causing trouble and refusing to work. [925]

On November 21, 1935, four Ohio enrollees discovered Major John Wesley Powell's survey marker buried under a rock cairn north of the fort outside the monument boundary. Sealed within an old-style lye can was a rare and valuable hand-written document, a survey record left by Major Powell's expedition when they visited the fort in December 1871. The company doctor brought the document to show Heaton so that he could make a record of it, as the boys were claiming ownership of their valuable "treasure." Heaton reported the find in his monthly report to Pinkley, who included it in the Southwestern Monuments Monthly Report for November 1935. Upon reading of the discovery, Acting Chief O. T. Hagen, Branch of Historic Sites and Buildings, Western Division, immediately wrote Heaton and sent him a copy of the Antiquities Act of 1906. Hagen wrote,

The finding by CCC enrollees of the marker... is of such importance as to require immediate attention.

No doubt, Superintendent Pinkley has already advised you of the proper procedure for the retention of the document....

In historical and archeological areas, all materials found have been considered as property of the National Park Service and not as that of the finder. The enrollees should be made to understand this and also that unauthorized digging or excavating is unlawful. [926]

Hagen requested a photographic copy of the document. On December 21 Heaton attempted to reconstruct the Powell survey marker monument as best he could. He noted several sets of initials on several of the rocks and surmised they were placed there at a later date. Heaton provided a description of the location of the marker in his December report to Pinkley and suggested that the monument boundaries be extended to include the marker as well as to "take in the old Indian ruins just south of the monument." [927] This suggestion would be echoed again and again by others in years to come.