Every seven years or so, the 24th of July, Pioneer Day, falls on a Sunday. Some municipalities then celebrate the holiday on the Saturday before and some on the following Monday. Here in Southern Utah, you can choose either. On Saturday, you can check out the parade and festivities in Washington City, and on Monday, you can do the same up in Cedar City.
On this Sunday, July 24th, the 169th anniversary of the pioneer’s decent into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, will be celebrated; however, if you’re looking for some way to celebrate the pioneer heritage of the state of Utah, consider taking a trip out to Pipe Spring National Monument.
Granted, it’s not even actually in Utah;it’s located over the state line on the Arizona strip southeast of Hildale, but the pioneers who settled Pipe Spring and built Winsor Castle, the fort that sits atop the springs, are the very same pioneers whom we celebrate here in Utah each and every July.
You’ll find no finer example of what day to day life was like for those early settlers than the one on display at Pipe Springs.
Between the museum and the informational signs located all over the grounds of the historic fort, there is an astounding wealth of knowledge to be obtained on a visit to the national monument.
The human history of the site stretches back thousands of years, well beyond the arrival of Mormon pioneers to the springs, and the information on display at Pipe Springs, which sits surrounded by reservation lands belonging to the Kaibab Band of Paiutes, also reflects on the lives of those earliest inhabitants. And if we’re honest about who the true first pioneers of Utah really were, their history totally fits into the idea of Pioneer Day as well.
There are examples of Paiute dwellings, tools, weapons, and more on display that give one a good idea of how some of the earliest inhabitants of this state lived before the arrival of Brigham Young and rest of the pioneers in 1847.
At the same time, the fort itself, constructed in the early 1870s, a time when the Blackhawk War and raids by Navajos and Paiutes on Mormon cattle and settlements were taking place, is a fine example of how the pioneers survived life in the wild west.
There is a long list of historically significant details surrounding the monument as well. The site was a working ranch for most of it’s history and Brigham Young had a telegraph line constructed and run out to the fort in 1871. John Wesley Powell used the spring as a base camp while his team surveyed the surrounding territory in the winter of 1872–73. Following the passage of the Edmund’s Act outlawing polygamy in the United States, plural wives and Mormon polygamists used the fort as a refuge where they could escape from Federal Marshals.
Plaques, exhibits and displays in the visitor’s center and museum and all over the site, describe in great detail all these stories and more.
In addition, the park rangers who give the tours of Winsor Castle are extremely knowledgeable and ready and willing to provide information and answers any questions.
“We try to make history as hands-on as possible,” said Paula Ogden-Muse, the National Park Service’s Chief of Interpretation at Pipe Spring. “We usually do a couple of demonstrations every day, making sandals out of yucca fibers, learning about the telegraph, there are times when we do things with the animals, and we try to involve people in crafts as well. One of our interns works with rag rugs, and we make rag doll or corn husk dolls depending on the day.”
A short hike on the Ridge Trail that leads up the hill behind Winsor Castle also provides some fantastic views of the Arizona Strip and the surrounding area. The trail is only about a half-mile long, and it’s a perfect outing for families with smaller children. Those views, however, give one pretty good idea why the site was chosen for a fort.
“This place never was attacked,” explained Ogden-Muse. “They never had to use it for that purpose, but its placement was no mistake, its back is against the Vermillion Cliffs, and you can see who's coming from a long way away.”
While it never saw a battle, Ogden-Muse said the fort did have an impact on the surrounding area in other ways. “When it was a tithing ranch, it was used as a daily operation to support the construction of the temple and other infrastructure in St. George,” she said. “It was a long journey, but this is where they had to put it because of the resources.
The telegraph station also made Pipe Spring a place where pioneers, cowboys and others traveling the area would get the news of the day. “You'd stop here to find out what was going on," said Ogden-Muse. "It was along the Honeymoon Trail;it was a stop on the way to or from the temple;it was a pivotal spot for the Native Americans. This was a place to stop for the night that you knew would have plenty of supplies for you to enjoy. This was a place where you could find some friendship in the middle of a desert.”
Nowadays, the news is a little harder to get at Pipe Spring.The telegraph is no longer in use and the lack of cellular service in the area makes it difficult, at least for those of us on AT&T, to get the news we’re used to getting on our smartphones. But there’s still plenty to learn at Pipe Spring. It’s a time machine that will take you back to the days of the pioneers and beyond, and I can think of no better way to celebrate the pioneer heritage of Utah and Pioneer Day than a visit to Pipe Spring National Monument.
To get there, head east for about 40 miles on state Route 59 out of Hurricane and then turn left on Pipe Spring Road at the entrance to the Kaibab Band of Paiute’s Tribal Headquarters.
Follow Jud Burkett on Twitter and Instagram @judburkett. Email him atjburkett@thespectrum.com or call him at 435-674-6262.
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