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Pipe Spring National Monument, a little known gem of the National Park System, is rich with American Indian, early explorer and Mormon pioneer history. The water of Pipe Spring has made it possible for plants, animals, and people to live in this dry, desert region. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted animals, and raised crops near the springs for at least 1,000 years. In the 1860s Mormon pioneers brought cattle to the area and by 1872 a fort (Winsor Castle) was built over the main spring and a large cattle ranching operation was established. This isolated outpost served as a way station for people traveling across the Arizona Strip, that part of Arizona separated from the rest of the state by the Grand Canyon. It also served as a refuge for polygamist wives during the 1880s and 1890s. Although their way of life was greatly impacted, the Paiute Indians continued to live in the area and by 1907 the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation was established, surrounding the privately owned Pipe Spring ranch. In 1923 the Pipe Spring ranch was purchased and set aside as a national monument. Today the Pipe Spring National Monument - Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Visitor Center and Museum explains the human history of the area over time. Daily tours of Winsor Castle, summer "living history" demonstrations, an orchard and garden, and a half-mile trail offer a glimpse of American Indian and pioneer life in the Old West.
Total size: 40 acres
Location:
Is located in the Arizona Strip, 15 miles west of Fredonia, Arizona.
Historical Facts:
For 1,000 years, ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab-Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted and raised crops near Pipe Spring. The first white men to pass through the area were Fathers Francisco Dominguez and Silvestre Veliz de Escalante in 1776. Mormon missionaries en route to the Hopi Pueblo discovered the spring in 1858 and Mormon pioneers brought cattle here in the 1860s. Dr. James M. Whitmore and his herder were killed by Navajo raiders in 1866. After the Fort Defiance treaty of 1870, Brigham Young became interested in Pipe Spring for his church's southern Utah "tithing herd" (families contributed cattle as a tenth of their income). The Mormons built a fort over the main spring in 1872. Dubbed "Winsor Castle," after the first ranch manager, the fort was comprised of two two-story houses with walls connecting them. Winsor built a sizable herd and church members produced cheese, butter and beef. The cold water made cheese-making possible. It became a popular stopover along the trail between Virgin River towns and the Colorado River, also a refuge for polygamist wives in the late 19th century. The trail by the fort was known as "Honeymoon Trail" for young Mormon couples returning after being married in St. George Temple. The Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation was established in 1907. The Mormons sold the ranch during turmoil over their polygamous marriage practices. Finally, Jonathan Heaton purchased the ranch and his son, Charles, interested the first NPS director, Stephen Mather, in making it a "memorial of western pioneer life."
Designation Date: May 31, 1923, by President Warren Harding
Watch the Clip
The first white settlers who crossed northern Arizona may have been awed by the landscape. But it was a place to pass through. No water, no arable land. Surely, there were greener pastures to call home. Like here.
>>Free software downloads: Windows Media - Quicktime
Windows Media file:
PC compatible
Low: 163 KB | High 1.00 MB
QuickTime movie:
Macintosh/PC compatible
1.57 MB
Learn More:
Pipe Spring Overview/NPS
Pipe Spring Fees/NPSPipe Spring Nearby Attractions/NPS
Pipe Springs History and Culture/NPS
Pipe Spring Visitor Information/NPS
Pipe Spring Nature and Science/NPS
Pipe Spring Plan Your Visit/NPS
Managing Agency:
National Park Service
HC 65 Box 5
406 North Pipe Spring Road
Fredonia, AZ 86022
Offices
928-643-7105
Visitor Information
928-643-7105
