THE ARIZONA STRIP

Historian Herbert E. Bolton has recorded his opinion that Father Escalante probably passed several miles south of Pipe Spring in 1776, leaving it to Jacob Hamblin and his group to discover the spring. In 1856, while exploring in the region under Brigham Young's orders, the Hamblin party camped at the spring. On a bet, William Hamblin, who was known as a sharpshooter, shot the bottom out of a tobacco pipe belonging to another member of the party, winning the bet and accounting for the name given the spring.

Dr. James M. Whitmore and Robert McIntyre first settled Pipe Spring in 1863. These pioneers were murdered by Indians in 1865. The Mormons acquired the estate and in 1869 sent Bishop Anson P. Winsor to the spring to build a fort and care for the church cattle grazing in the region. The fort was built directly over the spring and was excellently planned and constructed for its purpose-protection against Indian attack.

There was at one time a telegraph station in the fort at Pipe Spring. This station was at one end of a Mormon telegraph line coming from Salt Lake City and also serving Kanab. There is evidence to show that this was the first telegraph line in Arizona. The primitive telegraph apparatus and some of the old insulators are exhibited at the fort and always prove of great interest to the many visitors.

Pipe Spring is a true oasis in the desert. After one has been traveling around the extremely dry Strip country in summer, the shady little campground nestled in its lovely grove of trees is very inviting. The grove is inviting to numerous small animals, too. Chipmunks and ground squirrels will steal food from your chuck box, and will even raid your car or truck for food. Many birds can be heard in the branches overhead. Altogether it is a lovely place in which to be.

Leonard Heaton, Superintendent of the Monument, made some interesting statements regarding the condition of the land in the Strip. A native of the region, he claimed that within his memory the land had been well covered with grass and not cut up into washes and gulleys. He blamed overgrazing for this erosion. Mr. Heaton told of an enormous sheep outfit which had sheared as many as a million sheep at shearing time. He recalled that at one time he could have driven a car cross-country anywhere on the flats without being interrupted by frequent washes and gulleys such as exist now.

A short but dusty five miles from Pipe Springs is the little settlement of Moccasin, surrounded by the Kaibab Indian Reservation, which it antedates. In a letter to the writer Mrs. H. B. Stites, Reference Librarian of the Utah State Historical Society, gives some of the early background of the little village. As early as 1864, according to Mrs. Stites, W. B. Maxwell gave title to land at Moccasin to a Mr. Rhodes, who evidently abandoned it in 1866 because of Indian trouble. There were close connections with the United Order at Long Valley, Utah, which place is now called Orderville. Members of the United Order turned in all their property to the order and lived a Utopian life of equality and sharing. Mrs. Stites named two men, Allen and Webb, who owned a ten-acre farm at Moccasin which they turned in to the United Order. It was then used for raising sugar cane for molasses. Later they moved a mill there, which must not have been a real sugar mill, but rather the simple machinery and equipment needed for making molasses.

All the residents of Moccasin are related to each other by blood or marriage. The original families were Heatons, and the name still predominates. Other names are from men who have married Heaton girls.

Moccasin is the most peaceful and charming place one can find. The fields and roads are lined with the upwardflowing Lombardy Poplars, which wave gracefully in the summer breezes. Every houseyard is a little green Eden, with lush lawn grass, gorgeous roses, luxuriant trees, and fragrant vines proving what a little water and a large amount of love of beauty can produce in the desert. In summer workers mow the fragrant fields of hay and Lucerne grass. Paiute Indian children from the surrounding Kaibab Indian Reservation pad barefooted through the soft dust of the streets to get mail from the post office, whose postmaster is Mrs. Ed Heaton. The post office is located in the Ed Heaton home, which has one of the most beautiful gardens imaginable.

One house yielded an Englishman and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Goodal from Oldham, Lancashire, England, whose relationship to the Heatons was that Mrs. Goodal's sister had married a Heaton.

Across the dusty street was the schoolhouse, closed and deserted for the summer. Twenty-five to thirty children attend school here in the winter under two teachers. Most of the children are, of course, Heatons, but some are Paiute Indians from the Reservation.

It is twenty-three miles over a rough road from Pipe Spring to the village of Short Creek, the northernmost settlement in Arizona. The village lies on Short Creek, a tributary of the Virgin River, and is backed up by some of the most spectacular parts of the Vermilion Cliffs, called the Towers of Tumurru. The village of Short Creek, up until recently, has been one of the most isolated communities in Arizona; but its isolation is doomed by plans for making a new highway through the village to bypass Zion National Park. Truckers and commercial haulers desire a way between U.S. 91 and U.S. 89 without having to go through Zion Tunnel and over the extremely steep grades and sharp curves which one finds on Útah Highway 15 through Zion National Park, gaining 3,000 feet in the short distance between Hurricane and the summit near Mt. Carmel junction. By routing the highway between Fredonia and Hurricane, Utah, through Short Creek, a much easier route will be established.

The biggest, emptiest, widest-open space to be found on any map of the Strip will be the western part of it in Mohave County. The map shows very little in that part of the Strip, and if you travel into it, you will find that that there is very little outside of physical features for the map to show. Such names as Wolf Hole, Mount Trumbull, Tuweep, and Toroweap Valley are found on the map and can actually be found in the Strip, but it takes some traveling to do it.

One way to see the western part of the Strip is to enter it from St. George, Utah, on U.S. 91, and emerge at Fredonia. The country between the two terminals of your journey is the wildest, most remote, most thinly populated, and in some ways the most interesting that you can find in Arizona. If you plan to explore this part of the Strip, it is advisable to carry extra gasoline, a supply of water, food, camp equipment, an axe, a shovel, a good jack, and a set of tire chains. Possibly one could take a new passenger car with 14-inch wheels and long overhangs front and rear over the loop drive from St. George, over Mt. Trumbull, to Toroweap, and in to Fredonia, but it would not be a very sensible thing to do. On the other hand, it is not necessary to have a Jeep, either. An ordinary pickup truck or carryall type of vehicle will do the job satisfactorily. The two worst difficulties are not being able to buy gasoline and food, and the scarcity of water. Whatever you need you must carry yourself. In some parts of the region if you break down, you may stay for quite a while before anyone happens by. Summer rains may turn roads into impassable mud slicks and raise roaring floods in the washes, but these conditions last for only a few hours at the most. Roads dry quickly, and running washes subside as fast as they flood.

The traveler should take the time for a look at the very beautiful Mormon Temple in St. George, Utah, before entering the Strip. Even though it is not geographically part of the Strip, it is connected with it historically. Unfortunately this imposing edifice is not open to Gentiles (non-Mormons), but its exterior is beautiful enough to be worth a visit anyway. According to information received from Mr. Harold Snow of St. George, the original cost of the Temple was one million dollars. It was built between 1871 and 1877 under the orders of Brigham Young, and it was the first Mormon Temple to be completed in the State of Utah.

The connection of the St. George Temple with the Arizona Strip comes about because of the fact that much of the million feet of lumber used in the construction of the Temple came from the Strip; and many of the large beams and timbers, some as large as 12 inches by 24 inches by 46 feet, were cut on Mt. Trumbull and hauled to St. George by ox team over what must have been an impossible road over Hurricane Ridge. The fact that the altitude at St. George is 2880 feet and the altitude of Mt. Trumbull is 8028 feet, would seem to indicate that the Mormon pioneers who hauled the timbers had a downhill pull for their loads; and they did! The chief difficulty was getting the timbers down from the top of Hurricane Ledge or Fault to St. George. Hurricane Ledge is in some places 2,000 feet high, very rough and jagged, and the road down which the timbers were hauled was extremely rough and steep.

Another group of oldtimers who entered the Strip very near the site of St. George and traveled over much the same route, was Father Escalante's party. The Padre and his men were hungry and thirsty, lost and bewildered, and wished only to get back to Santa Fe when they passed through here in 1776. Escalante and Dominguez and their group obtained food from the friendly Indians and were led to water near Mt. Trumbull.

The present-day road leaves St. George and travels south a few miles to the Arizona border and Mohave County, then leads through Black Rock Canyon and up Quail Hill. This is the western edge of the Uinkaret Plateau, of which Mt. Trumbull is the southern tip. The name Hurricane Ledge was given to this edge of the plateau because a "regular hurricane" of a windstorm overtook a party of Mormon officials while they were exploring a route for a wagon road up the gulch. Travelers over this route today frequently encounter windstorms which could easily qualify as at least junior grade hurricanes. The road winds around and around and up and up, with altitude quickly gained and deep canyons yawning at the side of the road. One thinks briefly of the Temple builders who hauled their loads over a much more difficult road than this.

Thirty-three miles out of St. George and well up on the plateau is Wolf Hole. This wonderful name was given by Major Powell's party to the spring and water hole here. The Paiute Indians called this spring "Shinabitz-spitz" or Coyote Spring. Powell's party probably misunderstood coyote to mean wolf. There is water here, a corral, some fence, and an abandoned cabin; but it is on the map.

There are many mountains visible. Some of these are easily identified, some can be reasonably guessed at, and others merely wondered about. Mt. Bangs to the west is pretty sure; the Virgin Mountains are, too; Mt. Dellenbaugh to the southwest is a pretty good guess; and Diamond Butte is a sure thing because it is right beside the road.

Here are miles and miles of open space-just air and sunshine, the blue sky and the earth. There is room to breathe here.

After passing Diamond Butte the road begins to wind around through some low hills and across small washes, going into a valley. This is the Mt. Trumbull community. There is very little in the way of a settlement visible along the road, although there is a schoolhouse on one side of the road bearing proudly on the peak of its roof an oversize bell that looks as though it could be heard clear back to Diamond Butte.

Everyone in Mt. Trumbull is named Bundy, and most of the Strippers call the village Bundyville. According to Mr. John Riffey, Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Monument, the Bundys were residents of one of the Mormon colonies in Mexico until about 1917 when the Mexican Government expropriated their lands. The Bundys, looking for a place to settle, saw the Strip during an unusually wet year and thought that possibly they could dry farm. They settled at the base of Mt. Trumbull and began farming, but lack of rainfall soon forced them to change to cattle ranching.

There is a post office at Mt. Trumbull, and according to the records, it was established on April 6, 1920, with Lillian B. Iverson as Postmaster. It is likely that the village acquired its name of Mt. Trumbull from the establishment of the post office.

At Bundyville one may turn off on a road leading to Whitmore Wash (probably named for Dr. Whitmore of Pipe Spring), down which there is a comparatively easy horse trail. Chester Bundy and the other Bundys use this trail to transport food and supplies down to the river for parties running the Colorado. By the time the river runners reach this point, which is almost at the head of Lake Mead, their supplies are usually exhausted.

A mile or so beyond the village the road leading to Toroweap begins the ascent of the mountain, Mt. Trumbull, named by Major Powell for Senator Lyman Trumbull of Connecticut. An extremely steep grade, a very narrow dirt road, and sharp bends combine to make a thrilling drive; but almost before one is aware of it, he has gained has gained a thousand feet of altitude above the plateau and is enjoying a most spectacular view of the country below. As one climbs higher and higher, the country to the north and west stretches out, and one can see for vast distances in those directions. Lots of space!

After the road has reached the saddle of the mountain, it runs over several miles of more or less level ground between the two peaks of the mountain through a very beautiful forested landscape. Nixon Spring is found as the road runs through a cleared area close to the northern peak, which is properly Mt. Trumbull, and is not very high above the saddle. The water is piped down to a concrete basin and overflows into a pond. Gushing forth from the end of a pipe, this water is guaranteed to be the coolest and sweetest that the hot and thirsty Strip traveler has ever drunk.

About five miles south of Nixon Spring, on the mountain, one can find the remains of a lumber mill near another spring. This was probably the mill (steam powered) which furnished much of the lumber for the St. George Temple. Since the large timbers were hand-hewn, they could have been cut anywhere on the mountain. No trace of any mill is easily found at Nixon Spring, although the clearing would seem to indicate that the area was used at some time.From Nixon Spring the road descends as steeply as it ascends on the west side and allows a view over Toroweap Valley and the country to the east, back toward Grand Canyon. Toroweap Valley is long and narrow, about twenty miles by three, runs north and south, is bounded on the west by the Uinkaret Plateau-of which Mt. Trumbull is the southern end, and is bounded on the east by the edge of the Kanab Plateau. Although the view from Mt. Trumbull is exceptional, probably a better one can be had by climbing the 500-foot escarpment of the Toroweap Fault on the opposite side of the valley.

The big moment of anyone's Strip trip comes as he reaches the end of Toroweap Valley and drives, walks, or crawls to the edge of the abyss. Not until a person is right at the brink is it possible to see the awful drop of 3,000 feet straight down to the muddy water of the Colorado River below. It takes a strong, steady head to allow a person to walk up to within a foot of that awful chasm and not shy. Some persons can only approach the edge by crawling along until their heads are over the brink so that they can look straight down.

Since there is frequently a rather gusty wind blowing along the rim, photography can be a bit precarious. Standing at the edge with a bulky view camera shakily mounted on a rickety tripod and tilted downwards at an extreme angle, and then putting one's head under the dark cloth to focus, while the breeze merrily whips the whole outfit around, is a quick way to lose one's enthusiasm for recording nature's wonders on film. It seems to be even more nerve-wracking, though, to watch some-one else approach the edge than it is to do it oneself. A line extended directly south from Toroweap for about sixty-five miles would intersect U.S. 66 about fifteen miles west of Seligman. On the south side of the canyon is visible a trail used by the Hualapai Indians to reach a spring. From the north side it looks exceedingly precarious. To the east the river looks to be calm and peaceful. No rapids or other disturbances are evident. About fifteen miles upstream a high rock formation which stands at the entrance of Havasu Creek into the Colorado River is visible.

Westwards there is an unobstructed view of the great lava flow which poured down into the river from Vulcan's Throne and other volcanoes up above. At the foot of the lava slide is Lava Falls on the river. This ter rible rapid is not only fully visible from the top, but its roaring sound can be heard easily from the rim. One can see the waters wildly hurling themselves in tortured frenzy, trying to escape the jagged lava rocks that, when the river is full, are only momentarily visible in the turmoil.

Superintendent John Riffey and Mrs. Riffey have been at the Grand National Monument since 1942 except for the time that Mr. Riffey was in the Service. John flies his own airplane, is an interesting and informative talker, and along with his wife loves the Toroweap country so much that he wishes to remain there for the remainder of his days.

The road from Toroweap to Fredonia, according to Mr. Riffey, is not too bad now, since Mohave County has begun to run a grader over it once each year. Before that it certainly must have been horrible, because it is still one of the worst a person could hope to find. However, the scenery is so wonderful and soul-filling on this sixtyfive-mile drive, that, almost before one notices the roughness of the road, he is approaching Fredonia and U.S. 89, having completed the loop through the most remote part of Arizona left today.

One cannot expect to learn the Strip in a short time. Twenty years is too short a time to do more than learn its superficial features. Its practically roadless condition and the scarcity of water have always been two of the most serious obstacles to exploration and examination. Conditions have not improved too much since the time of that first Strip Tripper, Father Escalante, in 1776. But the old order is beginning to crumble. Heavy pressure is being exerted by oil companies to be allowed to explore for oil and gas in the North Kaibab Forest. An oil company has been engaged for some time in oil exploration in the Mohave County part of the Strip. The Forest Service is selling timber in the North Kaibab and plans to sell timber on Mt. Trumbull. The road between Fredonia and Hurricane through Short Creek is being improved. Roads are needed for trucks; and people follow roads.

The Strip is being opened up. If you would see it in its primitive charm and grandeur, go soon; do not wait too long. Probably, though, no matter how many roads are built into the Strip, and no matter how many people follow into the area, for a long, long time it will still be easy to leave the road for a few hundred yards to find primitive land again. There will be much of the Strip that will never see human entry during our lifetimes.