PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Flood Diversion, Irrigation, and Pipelines

One of the maintenance tasks at Pipe Spring was to haul and dump dirt into the drainage wash. In March 1951 Heaton used his Ford tractor with front-end loader to deposit dirt into the wash and trash pits with the help of his sons Leonard P. and Lowell. Lowell and another of Heaton's sons, Sherwin, drove the dump truck to haul dirt for the wash.

The stockmen's pipeline became obstructed near the tunnel end of the pipe in June 1952. Heaton had to dig up 20 feet of pipe to get at the blockage, running a 1/2-inch pipe through the two-inch one to clear it. In June and July, Heaton installed some four-inch cast iron culverts across the service roads to the campground and residence; he also laid three more irrigation pipelines to the campground. In December 1952 the pipeline to the Indian's reservoir got clogged with leaves and needed to be cleaned out.

In January 1953 Heaton also had to dig up a number of irrigation pipes to clear them. He then placed a 1/4-inch sheet iron cover over the division box to keep leaves and sticks from flowing into the lines. During that summer Heaton dug a new irrigation ditch to the lower end of meadow. In November 1953 Heaton spent some time trying to unclog pipelines to the meadow (clogged again with leaves) and made repairs to the pipeline to the campground. In April 1954 lines and culverts were again clogged and had to be cleaned out.

In September 1954 Heaton and his son Sherwin dug up the two springs by the fort. Heaton reported, "Roots plugged up the drain pipe at the northeast corner. I hope it will be OK now for another four years. The spring through the fort has stopped. Haven't been able to get it back. The opening outside must have enlarged so that it drains the water off, running in the fort." [1606] In November 1955 Heaton discovered that the tunnel spring outlet pipe was clogged with roots that had filled the tunnel. The water was seeping out through the shale and clay about 100 to 150 feet west along the road, making it very wet and soft in spots. Heaton realized the road over the tunnel could completely cave in if he didn't keep a close eye on the stockmen's pipeline. [1607]