PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Ponds, Fish, Fowl, and Springs

The Fort Ponds

By the late 1950s, draining and cleaning of the fort ponds was nearly an annual affair and an all-day job for three men. In addition to this routine chore, a number of pond repair projects took place. On May 19, 1957, strong winds blew over an old cottonwood tree on the walkway between the ponds, damaging the rock wall on the west side of the path between the ponds and damaging the walk. In mid-June Leonard Heaton and Carl Johnson removed the tree stump between the ponds, rebuilt the damaged rock wall, and repaired the walk.

During May and June 1958, the exterior rock walls of the fort ponds were stabilized, requiring 30 bags of cement. Gary Heaton and Ray Mose began work on May 20 on the east pond wall. After the first two days, Mose worked alone on the job. The fire pump and hose were used to first clean out the loose dirt and debris. Then the cement was mixed with a reddish brown coloring (to resemble old mud mortar) and troweled into the cracks. Mose had to suspend work on the walls for a while to help ready the monument for that year's Establishment Day (May 30). He resumed work the first week of June and completed the exterior walls on June 9, 1958. On June 18 Ray Mose, Jim McKown, and Kelly Heaton cleaned out and drained the fort ponds. Then Leonard Heaton assisted the three men in repointing the inside of the ponds with cement. Work was completed on June 21 and the ponds were refilled.

On July 21, 1959, the fort ponds were drained and some of the carp and goldfish moved to other ponds. Heaton wrote that there were so many that they kept the water muddy all the time. On July 22 Ray Mose and Allen Drye cleaned the fort ponds, putting 39 carp in meadow pond, and 33 goldfish in the Indian pond (reservoir), leaving 30 or more fish in ponds by the fort. Due to the July 21 earthquake, Heaton noted that the spring flow had noticeably increased. It took only three days to refill the ponds this time, while before it had taken nearly four full days. The ponds were drained and cleaned in June 1961. In 1962 they were cleaned twice, once in May and again in November. [1803] During the May cleaning, the rock walls were repaired. Heaton reported that after the November cleaning it took 74 hours for the ponds to refill, about 22 hours faster than in previous years when he had timed it. He attributed the increased flow to the 1959 earthquake. [1804]

Between 1960 and 1963, several efforts were made to stabilize the deteriorating stone walls of the fort ponds. Heaton noted considerable seepage through the east bank of the ponds in February 1963, but could not locate the source.

The Meadow Pond

Heaton made no reference in his journal about public swimming in the meadow pond after the summer of 1950. It appears that shortly after that year swimming at Pipe Spring was forbidden by either Zion or regional office officials. In early August 1958, Heaton reported that he got into trouble with superiors by letting people swim at the monument. Swimming as a monument activity had been reported in a magazine article, much to his superiors' chagrin. [1805] No correspondence about the matter has been located.

Fish

By the late 1950s, Heaton appears to have given up stocking the ponds with hatchery trout and the predominant fish species were carp and goldfish. His records indicate that he occasionally received donations of local carp to put in the ponds. On one occasion in August 1958, Heaton, Edna, and two of their sons went to Johnson Lake, 35 miles east, to catch some fish to put in the fort's west pond. They caught 17 carp and three bass, about six to eight inches long.

In May 1963, shortly before his retirement, Heaton asked U.S. Fish and Wildlife to deliver 100-200 trout to the fort ponds when they made a delivery of trout to the reservation. On May 4 he received a delivery of two nets of fish, about 100, six to eight-inch rainbow trout. By late July, word had gotten out about the new arrivals for Heaton wrote, "There is some night fishing going on here at the monument now that people have found out we have trout in the ponds." [1806]

Fowl

During the late 1950s, local residents occasionally donated domestic ducks for the monument's ponds. The problem was that wild cats would always make short work of them. Heaton even set a trap in Heart Canyon for the cats to protect both monument fowl and his own chickens. [1807] Every year Heaton would add a few ducks to the ponds, and just as surely, the cats would eat them. Wild cats weren't the only hazards. On one occasion in 1959, two young Indian boys injured two ducks with slingshots (Heaton referred to these as "flippers"). The number of ducks on the pond continued to fluctuate during the early 1960s. A bobcat killed one shortly before Heaton retired. After Management Assistant Hugh Bozarth came on duty, he purchased four ducks to add to the lone duck there at the time. "Visitors are pleased that ducks have been restored as part of the historical scene," Bozarth reported to headquarters. [1808]

Springs

During the summer of 1956, the spring stopped running through the fort and spring room. In August Heaton tried to locate the problem and met with some success: "Put a rock at the spring to raise the water level at the head, which forced a fair stream of water into the fort again." [1809] Heaton speculated that the opening to the outside spring had enlarged, lowering the pressure of spring flow into the fort.

By early 1959, the spring flow no longer emerged from under the north building but in the courtyard, at more than three feet lower elevation and at less pressure. Extensive work was done in February and March 1959 to restore the flow naturally through the spring room again. Beginning at the northwest corner of the courtyard, Ray Mose and Sherwin Heaton excavated down to reach the water channel. On February 9 the two men broke through to the spring channel and got flooded out. Work had to be temporarily halted until a pump could be brought from Zion on the 20th. It was discovered that the water channel from the north building ran between two very large rocks which extended about eight feet from the building foundation. A six-inch concrete wall was placed below the spring outlet between two large rocks, from the bottom of the excavation to four inches below ground level. Heaton wrote that this was done for two reasons: first, to prevent spring water from seeping into the spring room and second, to construct a catch basin beneath the courtyard to collect water for the monument's culinary system, and to divert water into the spring room. An open bottom-type manhole was installed. A two-inch pipe was placed in the collection box and connected to the old water system that supplied the picnic area, residences, and other areas on the monument. Plans were to take more water from this point for the new water system. A three-inch pipe was installed to carry water to the spring room. It was discovered that by raising the water level of the spring on the west side of the fort, the water flow could be increased into the spring room, so this level was raised about eight inches. The spring project was completed March 25, 1959. [1810]

108. Sketch showing location of spring and collection box, February, 1959
(Pipe Spring National Monument).
(click on image for an enlargement in a new window - ~52K)

In April 1961 Heaton reported that Ray Mose "found a new spring of water" behind the west cabin as he cleared away the dead vegetation. Heaton wrote that the "new spring" (presumably a seep) was six to eight feet higher up the hill from the previously known spring. [1811]