PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

The Ponds, Fish, and Fowl

The Fort Ponds

In late March 1951, Heaton and several of his sons cleaned three truckloads of muck and trash out of the ponds, a six-hour job. They cleaned out the fort ponds again on May 27, 1952. The job took six hours with four loads of muck and trash hauled away. After Kelly Heaton was hired as laborer in mid-May 1953, he helped the custodian repair the deteriorated stone walls of the fort ponds. Repairs were made with cement that month. Three Indian men hired for the job cleaned out the ponds again in May 1954.

The cottonwood tree falling at the ponds on Easter weekend in 1955 prompted Heaton to assess the condition of remaining trees. In May Heaton and three of his sons (Sherwin, Lowell, and Gary) removed three big trees around the pond, described by Heaton as either dead or "out of place." Lowell fell into the pond in the process, but was uninjured. Heaton then drained the ponds for cleaning, which he and Sherwin accomplished on May 12, 1955. The job took the two men all day, with the second day needed to clean up the mess around the pond. In June Heaton cleaned out the meadow pond as well as rebuilt a section of the west pond's wall.

Fish and Fowl

Heaton had a problem during the winter of 1952 protecting the ducks that lived on the ponds. One or more wild cats made meals of the fowl whenever they had a chance. The footprints of one cat were so large, Heaton speculated that it was a lynx. In July 1955 Heaton reported, "Caught the old bobcat that has been taking the ducks at the fort." [1605] There are no reports of Heaton restocking the ponds with fish between 1950 and 1955. In June 1951 Heaton reported at staff meeting that the Indian Service was willing to donate bass and bluegill fish to the monument, but there is no record that he ever received the fish.

The Meadow Pond

Heaton makes no references to visitors swimming at the fort during the summer of 1951, and it appears (at least for some period of time) the meadow pond was empty. At the August 8, 1951, staff meeting, Heaton reported that local people requested the swimming pool at the monument be filled. Recall from Part V that this was exactly the kind of problem that Hugh Miller hoped to avoid when, in May 1941, he refused to let the Division of Grazing develop the meadow pond into a swimming pool. Once the monument came under Zion's supervision in 1942, however, officials had no opposition to the pond being used as a public swimming place. This policy seems to have reversed about 1951, but exactly why and when is not known.