PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

The Aftermath of DG-44

1940

In February 1940 Superintendent Pinkley wrote Liaison Officer J. C. Roak, CCC 8th Corp Area, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas:

It is reported that the Army has been inspecting the old camp at Pipe Spring National Monument with view of rehabilitation or, possibly, reconstruction.... The area of the monument is very small and the presence of a CCC camp upon it does in fact do violence to those basic principles set up in the original Park Service Act. Should a new camp be built, it would be preferable from the standpoint of this office if it were not located on the Pipe Spring reservation. [1045]

Roak informed Assistant Superintendent Miller on March 14 that the new camp (G-173) was to be sited in Antelope Valley. The location was four miles south of the monument on Division of Grazing lands. "This, of course, solves your troubles," wrote Roak. [1046] Thus ended Camp DG-44's often trying and questionably fruitful four-year occupation of Pipe Spring National Monument. No one could have been happier to hear the news than Custodian Leonard Heaton.

When it was learned that DG-44 was not coming back, Al Kuehl came to the monument to discuss possible use of the salvaged buildings. One was to be retained and converted into housing for the Heaton family. Before Kuehl's arrival, Custodian Heaton took his wife Edna through a number of the buildings to see which she liked best. Then Heaton asked Kuehl if his family could live in the education building, which was located on the west side of the swimming pond. This building was larger and reportedly better constructed than other buildings and it was sited in an area with numerous shade trees. [1047] Kuehl was checking to see if Camp NP-12 at Walnut Canyon National Monument might furnish labor to construct the monument's residences during the summer of 1940 (the 1940 master plan called for two residences). No one knew quite how long it would be before the new residences would be constructed. Kuehl intimated that if Heaton adapted a CCC building as a residence, it might mean several more years delay before the NPS would build him a new one. But Heaton was anxious to live again on-site with his family. If the new housing couldn't be built by the summer of 1940, he told Kuehl, he wanted to move into a CCC structure.

No funds were available for construction of the residences. At this point, some Park Service political strategizing entered into the picture. At first Kuehl disapproved of using any of the CCC buildings for housing, fearing it would lessen the chances of getting funding in the future for new residences. While the matter was being decided, Heaton moved back into the fort without his family in order to provide protection during the summer months. Finally, it was agreed that a CCC building could be used, but not the education building for it might well later be viewed as adequate housing. On the other hand, if the Heatons moved into an obviously inadequate structure, the Park Service would be pushed into funding the new residences more quickly, or so Kuehl thought. For this reason, Heaton was told he could use the Grazing Service's office, a one-room, 15 x 20- foot building, while awaiting construction of a new residence. Heaton asked if he could use the infirmary, a three-room structure. Heaton later wrote that Kuehl "objected to this building on the same grounds as the education building, [it] being too good a quarters and might delay the getting of a new residential quarters." [1048] As it turned out - fortunately for the Heatons - the Grazing Service wanted the one-room office building. If Heaton wanted his family with him at the monument (a request Hugh Miller felt was quite reasonable), Kuehl reluctantly agreed to their moving into the 20 x 43-foot infirmary.

Heaton was given permission by Hugh Miller to occupy the infirmary on August 17, 1940. He worked from late August through early October converting it into a residence for his family. By the time he was finished, Heaton had converted the three-room structure into one with a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and four small bedrooms (a sleeping porch would be added later). [1049] After laying a sewer line, installing plumbing, and other interior work, Heaton had the residence ready for his family to move in. The immediate surroundings were barren. "Will plant some trees around it this fall," Heaton wrote. [1050] The family moved into their "temporary" quarters on October 8-9. Leonard and Edna Heaton then had seven children. Three more would be born during the 1940s. Needless to say, quarters would be cramped. Storage space consisted of one tiny closet in the approximately 10 x 13-foot master bedroom. The monthly deduction for these quarters ("since they are incomplete," wrote Miller) was $7.50. [1051] It was to be their home for the next 20 years.

Just as the ending of the CWA program at Pipe Spring left Heaton with a host of unfinished projects in 1934, so did the termination of Camp DG-44 in the fall of 1939. While a number of incomplete CWA projects were completed by the CCC and a number of new ones undertaken (the campground perhaps being the most significant accomplishment), the most pressing development projects at the monument had yet to be addressed. The water and sewer systems were only partially constructed. The monument still lacked permanent quarters for staff and a comfort station. The fort was also in dire need of repairs, having received very little attention during the 1930s. During the next two years, the drive to attend to the structural needs of the fort took precedence, along with historical research activities aimed at transforming the fort with its hodge-podge of artifacts into a house museum that met National Park Service standards.

During the spring of 1940, preliminary budget estimates for fiscal year 1942 included an increase for buildings in the amount of $3,000, all earmarked for fort repairs. The justification accompanying estimates provides a brief description of the fort's condition in 1940: "The old fort buildings are actually intact, but in a bad state of repair. Serious cracks have developed in the walls, complete plastering is required, exterior woodwork is rotting and dilapidated, interior floors and woodwork require expensive repairs." [1052] The fort roof, as mentioned earlier, was also in very poor condition. Funds available for FY 1941 were earmarked for removing deteriorated shingles from the fort and reroofing it with shakes. [1053] The estimates also called for $7,500 for a custodian's residence. ("For many years, the custodian's family lived in rooms in the old fort itself, an indefensible situation." [1054] ) No funds were sought for the second residence, which was part of the 1940 master plan. When compared with the 1937 general development plan (shown earlier), it should be noted that the residential and utility areas were located farther from the fort in the 1940 master plan (see figure 85). Otherwise there is little difference between the two. (This plan contains an error: the education building, erected in early 1938, is not depicted.)

85. General Development Plan, 1940 Master Plan for Pipe Spring National Monument
(Courtesy NPS Technical Information Center).
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window - ~107K)

Over the winter Heaton worked on routing and painting lettering for monument signage, a project begun by the CCC. In January 1940 he built a display case for Indian artifacts, mentioned earlier.

On February 14, 1940, Heaton attended a custodians' conference at Southwestern National Monuments headquarters in Coolidge, Arizona. Between 30 and 40 custodians attended the meeting, called by Superintendent Pinkley. As "Boss" Pinkley was giving his opening address, he experienced a heart attack and died only minutes later. Heaton later wrote in his journal,

We of the S.W.M. have lost the most friendly Boss and Superintendent any man ever had and we will miss him terribly. But we are determined to carry on and build on the solid foundation that he laid for the S.W.M. After some discussion a meeting was called at 2:00 at which time it was decided to go on with our school as we thought the Boss would want it. So class continued at 2:30... [1055]

Heaton felt honored to serve as one of the six pallbearers at Frank Pinkley's funeral, held on February 17, 1940. Pinkley's right-hand man, Hugh Miller, was appointed superintendent of Southwestern National Monuments on March 3, 1940, and held that position until June 30, 1942.

On March 27, 1940, Heaton discovered the catwalk over the west gate of the fort was unsafe due to deteriorated boards. He disassembled it that day and built a new walkway a few days later. Heaton took the month of April off as annual leave. Owen Johnson filled in for a few days then Park Ranger Edwin C. Alberts of Montezuma Castle National Monument took charge of the monument for the rest of the month. While there, Alberts catalogued all the museum articles in the fort. (Heaton was quite grateful for this work, as it was a job he hadn't wanted to tackle.) Alberts reported to headquarters that the southwest corner of the fort was showing alarming tendencies to settle and fall apart: "It is quite important that stabilization work be done on this part of the fort." [1056] When Heaton returned to duty on May 1, Alberts told him an historian was needed to determine just how the fort should be furnished so Heaton's artifact collection would better serve that end. Heaton favored this idea, but also saw the value of his taking whatever relics were offered to the monument, rationalizing "We can always give it to some other museum if we don't need or want it." [1057] The task of researching the fort's history and making recommendations fell in the summer of 1941 to research collaborator Arthur Woodward, who prepared "A Brief Historical Sketch of Pipe Spring, Arizona" in June 1941. Woodward never visited the monument, neither prior to nor during this research. (See later section, "Monument Interpretation during the Great Depression.")

During the first half of April 1940, two men working for the Historic American Building Survey (HABS), Southwest District, measured Pipe Spring fort and its two associated cabins. [1058] Drawings and plans of the buildings were then made in the district office in Tucson, Arizona. In mid-May HABS Architect Trent Thomas and D. W. Dickensheets went to Pipe Spring and took photos to complete HABS documentation of the fort. Leonard Heaton provided historical data included in their narrative report. [1059]

Heaton learned in May 1940 that a CCC camp was to be temporarily housed at Pipe Spring for 30 to 60 days while Camp G-173 south of Pipe Spring was being constructed. "And I thought I was through with them on the monument," Heaton grumbled in his journal. [1060] A crew of 65 boys and their commanding officer, Lt. Sherman, arrived the evening of May 21. Two of the boys scaled the fort walls that same night and Heaton discovered them locked inside the fort when he opened up the next morning. "I think the boys were scared enough being caught and [by] what I told them, they will think twice before it occurs again." [1061] Water was turned into the swimming pool (meadow pond) again so the boys could swim. In late June several CCC boys cut the wires in Heaton's reptile exhibit cage and changed the snakes around, trying to make them fight. Heaton decided to discontinue the exhibit until the camp was vacated. He was also quite unhappy about the amount of water being used by the camp, particularly the amount running continuously into the swimming pool, and the fact that the commander would allow the pool to be repeatedly drained and refilled. The summer was unusually hot and dry, and monument vegetation required extra water. "I guess I can put up with them for a few more weeks," Heaton wrote in his journal, anticipating their departure on July 15. [1062]

This crew of enrollees moved to Camp G-173 in Antelope Valley on August 8, 1940. [1063] A crew of 25 enrollees from Camp NP-12 at Mt. Elden arrived from Walnut Canyon National Monument on September 4 to complete salvage operations. The Grazing Service took only three buildings for CCC use: the garage, oil house, and office. The remaining 20 structures were transferred to the NPS for CCC use at Camp NP-12. [1064] The work was completed on October 2, and the work crew left the following day. "They have the place in as good a shape as they can get it without having a cat and plows to break up the road and packed ground," Heaton observed. [1065] In his monthly report to headquarters, he wrote, "It surely looks good to be able to look out over the country without having those old CCC buildings staring one in the face." [1066] Trucks from Mt. Elden continued to haul away salvage lumber over the next few weeks. During Camp DG-44's stay, the fencing along the southwest boundary of the monument had been removed to accommodate the camp's garage. Heaton reinstalled the fence in October. Even though there would no longer be a camp operating on the monument, Pipe Spring would still be impacted to some degree by the presence of three Grazing Service CCC camps in the area. They included the Fredonia camp to the east, the Short Creek camp to the west, and the Antelope Valley camp south of the monument.

During the summer of 1940, most of Heaton's time was spent in cleaning irrigation ditches, watering vegetation, keeping the grounds maintained, working on park signage, and cleaning the fort. In June Heaton installed four underground garbage cans and two fire hydrants in the campground. He hired several men to do some repair work on the east and west cabins as well as some plaster work in several rooms of the fort's upper building, second floor. [1067] Visitors sometimes asked Heaton where the lime came from that was used in plaster and mortar during the fort's original construction. Heaton sent headquarters a sample of lime found at the old lime kiln west of the west cabin, along with a sample of original fort plaster, for analysis. It was determined by an agricultural chemist at the University of Arizona that the plaster sample was prepared from the type of limestone sent by Heaton, thus he was told he could tell visitors the plaster was made from local limestone. [1068]

On August 15, 1940, Al Kuehl and Park Service architects George W. Norgard and Lyle E. Bennett visited the fort to assess its repair needs. New roofing was identified as the highest priority. Other concerns were deteriorated woodwork, dislocation of the west wall (caused by a tree), cracks in a wall indicating settlement from moisture problems, and several other minor problems. [1069] Kuehl asked Heaton to dig a trench along the west side of the fort so that the foundation of the fort could be examined when he returned a week later. Heaton got right to the job, later describing the work as "all rock and elm roots." After a week of digging, the trench was finished. Heaton described the conditions as he found them:

Finished up the trench on the west side of the fort and found the foundation of the fort is resting on a loose sand rock and black soil, also some heavier clay about a foot below the foundation. There is also a lot of elm roots between the rock and in the foundation and the mud used in the building has been forced out by root growth. The mortar is very soft in the wall up 2 or 3 feet above the ground. It might be the softening of the mortar and roots between the rocks that have caused the west wall to settle out instead of the floor footing under the foundation. [1070]

While Heaton labored to complete monument projects, changes were taking place in the Washington office. The hectic years of the Great Depression had taken a heavy toll on the health of Director Cammerer, as had working for Secretary Harold L. Ickes. By 1940 Cammerer had developed heart trouble, which led to his resignation. Cammerer's successor as director was Newton B. Drury, who assumed his new role on August 20, 1940. [1071] Cammerer took a position as regional director at Richmond, Virginia, but died nonetheless on April 30, 1941. Historian John Ise described Cammerer as the second director "to give his life for the parks." [1072]

Heavy rains in September 1940 strained the capacity of the monument's new culvert and drainage ditch, leading Heaton to conclude a new channel was needed below the campground. Serious flooding on September 7 was particularly destructive in and around Moccasin. Many roads and bridges were washed out, leaving people stranded for days.

Camp G-173 south of the monument was being supplied with water from tunnel spring via the cattlemen's pipeline. The Park Service was not consulted prior to the construction of the camp, nor notified that water from Pipe Spring was to be used. When Superintendent Hugh Miller learned this in mid-July, he grew alarmed that the delicate balance achieved between the National Park Service, Indian Service, and stockmen might be jeopardized. He wrote to Liaison Officer Roak to express his concern and ask for information. Roak responded,

The Army authorities have leased water from the cowmen's one-third, and this lease was executed by Fred C. and Charles C. Heaton as of May 1, 1940. It provides for all the water necessary for the CCC camp with a minimum of 8,000 gallons, no maximum set. It is understood that certain water troughs are to be built along this pipeline. [1073]

Roak offered to send Miller a copy of the lease, if desired. This may have satisfied Miller, for there seems to be no other correspondence on the matter. Tunnel spring water, however, would prove insufficient for the camp's needs. During October the Army complained of a water shortage at the new site and the camp's officer came to Pipe Spring and, according to Heaton, "turned about all the water" from the main spring into the tunnel. Heaton could see no problem in the tunnel and wondered if the pipeline was plugged. He reset the water valve to allow the camp six gallons per minute from the main spring, which was the amount the cattlemen were entitled to over and above what they received from tunnel spring. Whenever the new camp ran short, however, trucks were sent to haul water from Pipe Spring.

In early November 1940, Al Kuehl and Southwestern National Monuments Assistant Superintendent Charles A. Richey visited the fort and met with Heaton to go over plans for monument work to be accomplished the following spring. The most pressing projects identified were the reroofing the fort, replacing of the cornices and other deteriorated woodwork, excavation and waterproofing of the entire fort foundation (to stabilize footings), removal of the elm tree impinging on the west wall, addressing signage problems, digging and harrowing the CCC camp site, restocking the fort ponds, and planting trees around the proposed residential area. [1074] Richey reported that costs could be cut if crews from Mt. Elden's CCC camp could be assigned to carry out stabilization work. He estimated the fort work would require six weeks with a crew of three to six men. Heaton was "well-qualified" to act as supervisor, opined Richey, who planned to start the work about April 1, 1941. [1075]

In September 1940 Heaton added a sleeping porch onto the infirmary to expand the family's cramped living quarters. The porch was enclosed in December. Heaton also rewired the CCC infirmary then - with his own funds - purchased and installed a 32-volt Westinghouse light plant to furnish power to the building. Although its exact location has not yet been identified, the Heatons also used a CCC cellar for a time. [1076]

One significant improvement occurred on the Kaibab Indian Reservation. In the summer of 1940, under the Office of Indian Affairs' garden tract program, $2,000 of CCC funds was allocated for replacement of the pipeline on the reservation. The work proposed consisted of replacing 7,800 lineal feet of metal pipe with six-inch concrete pipe. The project was justified as follows: "The present pipeline has served its period of usefulness and is wasting a large percentage of the already inadequate water supply. The improvement will probably make possible the utilization of a few acres for subsistence gardens which are so badly needed to supplement the Indians' small income." [1077] The work began in late 1940 and continued into 1941 as Project 110. This pipeline replaced the reservation's water system constructed under Engineer Leo A. Snow's supervision in 1926.