SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS MONTHLY REPORT MAY 1939 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE GPO W055 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR *$*&*">&•• NATIONAL PARK SERVICE / •. •: . • • r. '• WASHINGTON ADDRESS ONLY THE DIRECTOR. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE April 2k. 1939. Memorandum for the Superintendent, Southwestern National Monuments: I am writing this as an open letter to you because all of us recognize the fine friendly spirit engendered by your Southwestern National Monuments n.onthly reports. I believe that all park and monument reports can be made as interesting and informative as yours. Your monthly report for L.erch i6 on my desk and I have glanced through its pages, checking your opening statements, stopping here and there to j.ick up en interesting sidelight, giving a few moments to the supplement, and then looking to your "Ruminations". The month isn't complete unless I read themJ As you know, the submission of the monthly reports from the field has been handled as another required routine statement by some of the field men. It seems to me you have strained every effort to rrake the reports from the Southwestern National Monuments an outstanding re­ flection of current events, history, and special topics; adding a good share of the personal problems and living conditions of that fine group of men and women that constitute your field organization. You have ac­ complished a great deal by making the report so interesting that the Custodians look forward to the opportunity of adding their notes. In issuing these new instructions, I am again requesting that the Superintendents and Custodians themselves take the time to put in writing the story of events, conditions, and administration in the parks and monuments they represent. There is so much personality wrapped up in the operations of our Park Service areas that it is re­ freshing to hear some of the personal stories about what goes on out there. Therefore, you can pick up your "besom" and make a clean sweep by continuing to present to the Service, your associates, and friends the Southwestern National Monuments monthly report in its own inimitable W.O. form. SOUTHWESTERN NATIONAL MONUMENTS MAY 1939 REPORT INDEX OPENING, By Superintendent Frank Pinkley 315 CONDENSED GENERAL REPORT Travel 317 300 Activities of Other Agencies.. 320 000 General 318 400 Interpretation 320 100 Administrative ...... 318 500 Use of Facilities by Public. 320 200 Maintenance, New Con- 600 Protection . 320 struction, Improvements 319 REPORTS FROM MEN IN THE FIELD Arches 329 El Morro 346 Aztec Ruins ........ 353 Gran Quivira 329 Bandelier 354 Mobile Unit. 326 Bandelier CCC 356 Montezuma Castle 327 Bandelier Forestry ..... 357 Natural Bridges ......... 344 Bandelier Ruins Stabilization358 Navajo ........ 337 Canyon de Chelly 330 Organ Pipe Cactus ........ 351 Capulin Mountain ...... 344 Pipe Spring. 323 Casa Grande. ........ 332 Sunset Crater . ... 361 Casa Grande CCC ....... 334 Tumacacori 341 Chaco Canyon ........ 324 Walnut Canyon 339 Chiricahua . 335 Walnut Canyon CCC 340 Chiricahua CCC 336 White Sands , 348 Wupatki 359 HEADQUARTERS Branch of Accounting . 364C Branch of Maintenance 364C Branch of Research Personnel Notes ... 364D and Information ... 363 Visitor and Contact Statistics . 364B THE SUPPLEMENT Birds at Montezuma Castle, by Betty Jackson. 367 Bits from the Bridges, by Zeke Johnson 366 Capulin. Comments, by Homer Farr 371 Casa Grande Nature Notes, by Don Egermayer •• 369 Chim ings from the Chaco, by Carolie' McKinney. • . 370 El Morro Cat-a-log, by.Robert Budlong. ..... 370 Headquarters Happenings,by the Naturalists • 372 Interpretative Program for the Southwestern National Monuments, by Dale S. King 373 Monte»uma Musings, by Earl Jackson ......... .. ..-.«..•..,. « » 366 uminations • •••...........•.. • • 383 Wupatki. Wildlife ...... * . 566 SOUTHWESTERN NATIONAL MONUMENTS PERSONNEL HEADQUARTERS: NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COOLIDGE, ARIZONA FRANK'PINKLEY, SUPERINTENDENT Hugh M« Miller, assistant superintendent; Parke W« Soule, chief clerk; Dale S. King, asst. park naturalist; Charlie R. Steen, Jr. park archeologist; Natt N. Dodge, jr. park naturalist; Luis A. Gastelluin, clerk; Robert Petrie, asst. olerk-sterographerj Ira G. Goodwin, asst. clerk typist; Lawrence Munger- ro, CCC clerk; F«S» Stonehocker, machinist; J.L. Baehr,utility man; George Sheffield, mimeograph operator CCC. DETAILED FROM REGION III: J. H. Tovrea, assistant engineer. iq^8 FIELD STATIONS POST OFFICE PERSONNEL VISITORS ACRES AREA 1. ARCHES: Moab, Utah Hurry Reed, Cust., 1,448 33,680.00 2. AZTEC RUINS: Aztec, New Mex. T.C. Miller,cust., Homer Hastings^ ranger. 20,214 25.88 3. BANDELIER: Santa F*t New Mex.Geo. Sholly, act. custodian; 1. CCC guide 14,619 26,026.20 4. CANYON DE Chin Leo, CHELLY: Arizofia :T Ted. Cronyn, cust. 1,573 83,840.00 5. CAPULIN MTl Capulin, N. Mex. H. Farr, cust. 30,200 . 680.37 6. CASA GRANDE: Coolidge, ^rizona A»T« Biclarell, custodian; D.Egermayer, ranger; McGee, WilJfcerson, Brashear, CCC . guides . 33,761 472.50 7. CHACO CANYON: Chaco Canyon, • • New Mexico L.T. McKinney, custodian, Francis H. Elmore, . ranger-historian . .6,271. , 21,512.37 8. CHIRICAHUA: Douglas, Ariz. F.Fish, cust., H. Stratton, grader oper.; 2 CCC guides '9,145 10,694.80 9. EL MORRO: . Raman, New Mex. R.R. Budlong,cust.,3,2Q8 240.00 10. GILA CLIFF: Cliff, New Mex. No custodian .105 , 160.00 11. GRAN QDTdTRAj Gran Quivira, NLI.G, Boundey, cust. 3,113 610.94 12= HCV'Nt.^EP: Cortes, Colo. T.C. Miller in chge 168 285.80 13• LiONTLjUifli. Caa'p Verde, Ariz. E. Jackson, cust.; CATTLE Ed. Alberts,ranger10,645 520.00 14. NATURAL BRIDGES: Elanding, Utah Zeke Johnson, ... custodian. 741 2,740.00 15. NAVAJO:. Tonalea, Ariz. J.W". Brewer,Jr., custodian. 411 360.00 16. ORGAN PIPE CACTUS: Ajo, Arizona. No Custodian 6,200 330,67*0.00 17. PIPE SPRING: Moccasin,Ariz. L.Heaton, act. cust. 2,245 40.00 18. RAINEOVf PPJDGE: Tonalea,. Ariz.No. Custodian 222 160.00 19. SAGUAPLO: Tucson, Arizona. No. custodian 20,422 63,284.00 20. SUNSET CRATER: Flagstaff, Ariz.. D.J. Jones in< charge 6,922 3,040,00 21. TONTO: Roosevelt, Ariz. No custodian 4,985 1,120.00 22. TUM/iCACORI: Nogales, Ariz. , L»R» Caywood, cust.; C.G..,Harkins.,~rangorl5,289 10.00 23. WALNUT CANYON: Flagstaff,Ariz.. P. Boaubien,jr _ arche.ologist; 2. CCC guides ' 13,526 1,873.00 24. WHITE SANDS: Alamqgordo, N.I.J. T.Charles,cust. J.Faris., ranger; J.Shepherd,G0« 110,805 142,987.00 25. WUPi.TKI: Flagstaff,Ariz. D.Jones,ranger; 2,754 35,865.00 26. YUCCA HOUSE: Cortex, Colo. T.C. Miller, in chge 172 9.60 T0TA.L FOR 1938: 1,188.91 .square milo« 3T9~,16^ 7F0,yo7^4b' p By Superintendent Frank Pinlcley of v^rLl\iNQ) Southwestern National Monuments, Coolidge, Arizona Hay proved to be a good month among the Southwestern National Monu* ments. The weather was clear and fair-; cool enough for travel over the whole district except that the last week in the southern part of the dis­ trict was jiving temperatures of over a hundred and visitors were complain­ ing somewhat. Travel was heavy for the season of th- year and seemed to be made up of people who were spending a fair amount of money. They were not, how­ ever, liberal spenders because when we put a 25^ per head visitor charge on several of :>ur monuments wc got a sharp decrease in attendance; it was one thing they could cut out and they promptly did so. Admission foes have been our principal point of argument and interest during the r onth. HOY; many times wc have laughed over the statement made at the confcror.ee last January that one of the national monuments in the south h .*.. put on an admission fee and in the first 40,000 visitors had only one or two complaints. Our Southwestern travel or seems to be made of sterner stuff, as witness the well dressed banker-looking gentleman in the high priced car, who, upon being checked at Casa Grande and told the ranger would huvc to collect 25^ each for him and his wife said: "Oh, no you won't, and you can tell my dear friend, Harold Ickcs, he can go straight to hell and take all you sons of Belial (word possibly confused) along with him." .Upon which he left in what appeared- to be an angry mood. At Casa Grande, with weather good and road traffic as good or better than last year, wc hr.d less than half the attendance. At Tumacacori under similar conditions, nearly one third of the visitors drove into the park­ ing area, looked at the admission sign on the door of the museum and drove out again. At white Sands our attendance was considerably less than half what it was for the same month last year. At 7ft tec Ruins we had'Ices than half as many visitors as last year. And so the story goes at the other monuments. As well as.cutting our visitors in half, the new admission charges arc building up considerable local irritation. It is yet too early to report on this, nor is this the- place to take it up in detail, but if you will read Tom Charles' report for this month from White Sands, among the reports from the men in the field, you will get a pretty clear picture of what is happening at all the monuments where entrance charges have been made. A car charge would undoubtedly reduce the irritation; the per head charge being high as compared with the per car charge, .allowing local people *-in free-, on^Sundays--and, holi'days would also reduce the local feeling though it would tend to throw heavier peak loads on out boys.