Part 17 - Pipe Spring National Monument
On our way from Page back to the Las Vegas airport, we noticed a sign for "Pipe Spring National Monument" near the town of Moccasin, Arizona, in the midst of the Kaibab Indian Reservation. We decided to check it out.
This area was once a home in the desert for ancient Puebloan peoples, then for the Kaibab Paiute Indians (who still live here). It's a good location because a rare desert spring provides a dependable water supply.
In 1863, Mormon pioneers settled here. Five years later, as a result of hostilities between the Mormons and Navajos, Mormons built a small stone cabin at Pipe Spring to serve as a "fort", a safe refuge against continuing Navajo raids.
The fort consisted of two stone buildings with a walled courtyard between them. The spring comes to the surface inside the building on the left.
The spring exits the building at the lower left corner, flows through a short channel . . .
. . . and into a pair of ponds.
The courtyard.
One of the bedrooms.
To connect Pipe Spring with other Mormon settlements and Salt Lake City, the church established a telegraph station here.
The telegraph wires were mounted on large glass insulators.
The telegraph wire and poles still stretch into the desert.
There are two other, separate buildings. This is the East Cabin.
In the corral near the East Cabin, we saw two Texas Longhorns.