Crowning the Queen of the Sonoran Desert: Tucson and Saguaro National Park An Administrative History Marcus Burtner University of Arizona 2011 Figure 1. Copper Pamphlet produced by Tucson Chamber of Commerce, SAGU257, Box 1, Folder 11, WACC. “In a canon near the deserted mission of Cocospera, Cereus giganteus was first met with. The first specimen brought the whole party to a halt. Standing alone upon a rocky projection, it rose in a single unbranched column to the height of some thirty feet, and formed a sight which seemed almost worth the journey to behold. Advancing into the canon, specimens became more numerous, until at length the whole vegetation was, in places, made up of this and other Cacaceae. Description can convey no adequate idea of this singular vegetation, at once so grand and dreary. The Opuntia arborescens and Cereus Thurberi, which had before been regarded with wonder, now seemed insignificant in comparison with the giant Cactus which towered far above.” George Thurber, 1855, Boundary Commission Report.1 Table of Contents 1 Asa Gray, ―Plantae Novae Thurberianae: The Characters of Some New Genera and Species of Plants in a Collection Made by George Thurber, Esq., of the Late Mexican Boundary ii List of Illustrations v List of Maps ix Introduction Crowning the Queen of the Desert 1 The Question of Social Value and Intrinsically Valuable Landscapes Two Districts with a Shared History Chapter 1 Uncertain Pathways to a Saguaro National Monument, 1912-1933 9 Saguaros and the Sonoran Desert A Forest of Saguaros Discovering the Sonoran Desert Carnegiea gigantean Desert Monuments The Changing Landscapes Papago Saguaro National Monument Searching for a New Monument Chapter 2 A New Deal for Saguaro: Constructing the National Monument, 1933-1941 54 Mapping the Saguaro National Monument Depression and New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps The CCC, Tucson Parks and the NPS Tucson Mountain Park and CCC Tanque Verde Park and the CCC Repurposing the Monument Transforming Land Use Practices Building the Loop Road Chapter 3 Interpreting the Monument: Scientific and Filmic Narratives of 102 the Ecological Monument and its ―Wilderness of Unreality,‖ 1935-1950 Dreams and Plans Botanic Desert Gardens Surveying Saguaro, 1937 Master Plan Filmic and Aesthetic Representations of the Monument Bounding the Garden iii Threats to the Ecological Narrative Dealing with Cactus Die Off Countering the Narrative of Decline Chapter 4 A People‘s Park, 1948-1966 143 Trading Up: Brokering Saguaro Land Deals Saguaro National Monument Confronts its Problems The Grazing Issue The Great Compromise? Mission 66 Tucson Mountain Park Turning to the Tucson Mountains Crisis and Call to Arms Interpreting the Desert Adding the Tucson Mountain Unit Chapter 5 Conservation in the Sky Islands and the Sonoran Desert, 1960-2010 176 Developing Conservation Landscapes Dual Role Land Deals and Conservation Deals Sky Islands From X-9 to Wilderness Access and Open Space: The X-9 Ranch The Question of Wilderness Wild Cattle An Island or an Ecosystem? Conclusion The Journey of a Monument 217 Bibliography 221 Appendices Chronology of National Park Service Officials 229 List of Major Park Legislation 231 Interview Questions 232 iv List of Illustrations Figure 1 Copper Pamphlet produced by Tucson Chamber of Commerce, ii SAGU257, Box 1, Folder 11, Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, Tucson, AZ (WACC). Figure 2 Homer LeRoy Shantz in the University Cactus Forest, 1930, Homer 1 Shantz Collection, University of Arizona Institutional Repository, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ (UAiR) http://uair.arizona.edu/ Figure 3 Amid the University Cactus Forest. Homer Shantz, 1933, 9 UAiR. Figure 4 Well past the aesthetic tipping point. Shantz, 1931, 12 University Cactus Forest, UAiR. Figure 5 John Russell Bartlett‘s 1857 drawing of Tucson, from Robert 18 V. Hine, Bartlett‟s West: Drawing the Mexican Boundary (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968). Figure 6 Roosevelt Dam, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, 24 PAN US GEOG - Arizona no. 84 (E size). Figure 7 Saguaro Flower in Cactus Forest, Shantz, 1935, UAiR 47 azu_shantz_19350609_n_1_m Figure 8 In a Sahuaro Forest, Arizona. Postcard, Lollesgard Specialty Co., 54 Tucson, Arizona. Printed by Curteich, Chicago, Il., Number 6A-H714, 1936. Jack Mount Postcard Collection, http://saguaro.homestead.com/files/saguarocard.html Figure 9 Tucson Mountain Park, Richard D. Sias, 70 SAGU275, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 10 ―Before sloping & planting of bank slope, near a mountain grade culvert 73 in the Gates Pass mountain area.‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 11 After. Note the rock work and the re-vegetation work on both sides. 74 SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 12 Sus picnic area, circa 1950s, SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. 75 Figure 13 Kinney Road Sign, SAGU257, Series 4, Box 3, WACC. 76 Figure 14 Tucson Mountain Park, Rockfellow, 77 v SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 15 Building with stone, SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. 78 Figure 16 Saguaro rib veneer on concrete posts, stone foundations, 78 SAGU25, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 17 Note the contour dam in the foreground. Described as 80 ‗blending with landscape.‘ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 18 ―Seeding operations on earth fill dams showing return of small 80 plant growth and grasses,‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 19 ―Landscape planting treatment on a former desolate intersection of 81 Park Roads. Desert growth restored in natural plant composition to enhance appearance of newley [sic] erected Park Signs,‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 20 Before and After planting: ―Before moving in desert scrubs and cacti 81 to restore Natural landscape as a badly scarred road intersection‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. Figure 21 ―Restored,‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder 20, WACC. 81 Figure 22 ―A side road to be obliterated. This old road tempts tourists into 87 trouble.‖ Project 707, 1935, SAGU257 Box 4, Folder 19, WACC. Figure 23 ―The ground was scarified, good earth, vegetable debris and hardy 87 cactus introduced and the area planted with fertile indigenous seed.‖ Project 707, 1935, SAGU257 Box 4, Folder 19, WACC. Figure 24 ―Reserva Monte Sahuaro de la Universidad de Arizona. No se permite 89 Tirar o Cazar. No se permite cortar lena. No se permite sacar o arrancar Sahuaros, chollas, plantas, o Arboles.‖ Sign in the style of the CCC Defending the Monument from various traditional uses: cactus gathering and wood cutting in particular. SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 25 A Dream Shack Razed in the Cactus Forest 91 [precise location unknown to author], RG79, E95, Box 5, National Archives at College Park, MD (NARA II). Figure 26 ―New road recently graded in Saguaro National Monument. Note narrow 95 roadbed, high crown, bad unsightly ditches—no sloping.‖ SAGU257, Box 4, Folder 17, WACC. Figure 27 ―A desert type of road, typical in the Saguaro country. This beautiful 96 vi desert road is restful to tired Tucson people as it winds harmlessly thru the cacti—without a scar.‖ SAGU257, Box 3, Folder17, WACC. Figure 28 Working to define the loop road in the 1930s, 98 SAGU 257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 29 Into the foothills, SAGU 257, Box 4, Folder 19, pt. 2, WACC. 98 Figure 30 Ruth Egermayer, Nov. 1941. SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. 100 Figure 31 Marvin Frost in the Cactus Forest, 1941. Ruth Egermayer, 102 SAGU257, Series 4, Box 3, WACC. Figure 32 ―Ranger Residence building owned by University of Ariz. View 104 From northwest, Natt Dodge and Carleton Wilder, Oct 13, 1938.‖ SAGU257, Series 4, Box 3, WACC. Figure 33 Coffee in Saguaro National Monument, 1936. Shantz, UAiR. 110 . Figure 34 Sketching and Agave shottii, UA cactus garden. Circa 1932, UAiR. 111 Figure 35 ―Powell‘s Cactus Garden,‖ 113 SAGU257, Box 1, Folder 11, Part III, WACC. Figure 36 Looking west from the NPS residence completed by CCC in 1940. 123 Note the Tucson Mountains to the right, beneath the flag. SAGU 257, Series 4, Box 3, WACC. Figure 37 Cactus Forest, March 1, 1930, Homer Shantz, Shantz Collection, 125 UAiR. Figure 38 Looking North through Section 17 135 MS1255, Folder 489a, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson (AHS). Figure 39 Removing Saguaros-1, MS1255, Folder 489a, AHS 136 Figure 40 Removing Sagauros-2, MS1255, Folder 489a, AHS 137 Figure 41 Removing Saguaros-3, MS1255, Folder 489a, AHS 137 Figure 42 Marvin Frost photographing the damage 138 MS1255, Folder 489a, AHS Figure 43 James Mielke, MS1255, Folder 489a, AHS 138 Figure 44 Presenting the Desert in the Rincon District, Mission 66, 143 SAGU257, Series 4, Box 4, WACC. vii Figure 45 Pamphlet Cover, Saguaro Forest Associates, 156 SAGU 257, Box 6, Folder 1, WACC. Figure 46 Sign on Visitor Center, SAGU257, series 4, Box 4, WACC. 159 Figure 47 Interior of visitor center with interpretive displays. 160 RG79, Entry 40, Box 14, NARA II. Figure 48 ―Visitors in Arboretum‖ at old contact station, 1951. 161 SAGU257, Series 4, Box 1, WACC. Figure 49 Museum Aide Dee Dodgen with Girl Scouts, March 1961, 161 George Olin, SAGU Series 4, Box 4, WACC. Figure 50 CCC Construction crew at work on Water Conservation Dam, 162 October 1934, Sina Bar Dam, Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona. Figure 51 Ben Thompson, 1945, RG79, Entry 10, Box 2365, NARA II. 164 Figure 52 Ben Thompson, 1945, RG79, Entry 10, Box 2365, NARA II. 164 Figure 53 Natt Dodge, 1962, Tucson Mountain Park, WACC. 170 Figure 54 ―TUCSON MOUNTAINS. View northwest along the east flank 175 of the Tucson Mountains. Golden Gate Pass Road in middle distance with Wasson Peak on skyline.‖ SAGU 275 Series 4, Box 9, Folder 158, WACC. Figure 55 Ray C. Foust, SNM Ranger, Nov.