PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Water Issues and the Kaibab Indian Reservation

Area ranchers still depended on Pipe Spring water in times of drought, which appears to have occurred several years in a row in the early 1950s. The stockmen's hauling of Pipe Spring water was irregular and occurred only as a temporary measure to provide temporary relief during drought conditions. In May 1950 Heaton reported, "Stockmen have been moving a lot of cattle this past week by the monument to their summer pastures. Also hauling some water from the monument to tide them over 'til rain comes." [1614] In June more stockmen hauled water from the monument to supplement the shortage of water in their wells. In the spring and early summer of 1951, a drought forced stockmen to haul water from Pipe Spring to a point about 15 miles south. In June the stockmen moved their cattle to other pastures and discontinued hauling water from the monument. [1615] In October 1951 Heaton reported, "Mr. Roland Esplin hauled 4,000 gals. of water from the monument for sheep." [1616]

Area stockmen became worried about the unusual lack of rainfall in August and September 1952, concerned about the effects this would have on their winter pastures. In March 1953 rancher Rulon Langston hauled water from the monument for his cattle. In May Heaton reported, "Two stockmen are hauling water from the monument as their windmills have failed to provide water for their stock." [1617] During an usually hot summer in 1953, Heaton reported to Zion officials there was no appreciable moisture at Pipe Spring, although some storms occurred in the surrounding area. Two trucks hauled water from the monument to cattle in July, as area wells dried up. That fall stockmen drove their cattle past the monument, moving them to winter range. Heaton had trouble with the cattle crossing the cattle guards and coming onto the monument, until (at his father's suggestion) he painted the cattle guards white. This seems to have solved the cattle problem, but did nothing to dissuade reservation horses from entering the monument. Another drought in May 1955 forced many stockmen to drive their cattle to Idaho and Wyoming. Some others were hauling water from Pipe Spring as their ponds and wells had gone dry. [1618]

In 1952 an important legal case was being prepared which would not be settled by the Supreme Court until 1963. In Arizona v. California, the United States, on behalf of five Indian reservations in Arizona, California, and Nevada, asserted rights to water in the mainstream of the Colorado River. [1619] Water projects by the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Fish and Wildlife Service prompted the suit. The Attorney General advised the Acting Secretary of the Interior on September 29, 1952, that the National Park Service might also have interests that were not then being presented. It was decided in November that a list would be prepared of present and ultimate water uses in the areas of the Lower Colorado River Basin administered by the Park Service. The list was compiled by Chief A. van V. Dunn, Water Resources Branch, and submitted to the director under cover letter of November 28, 1952. [1620]

In December 1954 the Bureau of Indian Affairs prepared the report, "Factual Data in Support of Claims for Indians and Indian Tribes to Uses of Water in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River in the States and Arizona and California," Vol. XVIII, Kaibab Reservation (Claim No. 19). The lands irrigated on the reservation were described in this report as including 25 acres irrigated by Moccasin Spring, a 3.3 acre-tract supplied with water by "the SMC reservoir," a 19.2-acre tract supplied with water from Two Mile Reservoir, and 4.2 acres irrigated with water piped from Pipe Spring. Total acreage under irrigation was 84.6. [1621] The report stated the distance from the reservation to the main stream of the Colorado River was almost 50 miles and that "there remains the very remotest possibility of any of the present water supply of these Indians reaching or effecting any lower diversions." [1622]

95. Map of Kaibab Indian Reservation, 1953
(Courtesy Bureau of Indian Affairs).
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window - ~69K)

The 1954 report included extracts from "Indians of the Southwest," Bureau of Ethnic Research, 1953, which provides a general overview of reservation conditions in the early 1950s. (The information in the extract pertained to 1952.) While the range had an estimated carrying capacity of 900 head, only 463 head of cattle and 27 horses were being kept on the reservation in 1952. "Farming is of little importance with only 60 acres being used for gardens and pastures by individual families," the extract stated. A government loan of $50,000 in 1952 was obtained to finance a tribal herd. The tribe hoped to overcome the lack of a good water supply for range cattle by drilling additional wells and constructing new reservoirs. The population of the reservation in 1952 was 96, consisting of 17 families, nine of which were self-supporting. Two families were engaged in farming and livestock raising; seven families were engaged in wage labor; and eight families were receiving welfare. The median annual income from agriculture was $1,000; the median income from wage work was $900. The estimated annual family cash income of non-Indians in the area adjacent to the reservation was $3,927. [1623] A 1953 map was included in the 1954 report that showed the reservation areas under irrigation and its three primary reservoirs at Moccasin, Pipe Spring, and Two Mile Wash. [1624]

Also prepared in connection with the Arizona v. California case was a statistical table that showed population, number of families, and area irrigated from 1910 to 1955. This table is included for general reference as Appendix XI.