Pipe Spring National Monument

{{short description|National monument in Arizona, United States}}

{{Infobox protected area

| name = Pipe Spring National Monument

| iucn_category = III

| photo = Pipe Spring NM01.jpg

| photo_caption =Winsor Castle

| image_map = {{maplink-road|from=Pipe Springs National Monument.map|zoom=12}}

| relief = 1

| map_caption =

| location = Mohave County, Arizona, US

| nearest_city = Fredonia, AZ

| coordinates = {{coord|36|51|45|N|112|44|15|W|region:US-AZ|display=inline,title}}

| area_acre = 40

| area_ref = {{NPS area |year=2011 |accessdate=2012-05-14}}

| created = {{start date|1923|05|31}}

| visitation_num = 25,179

| visitation_year = 2018

| visitation_ref = {{NPS visitation |accessdate=2019-06-15}}

| governing_body = National Park Service

| website = [https://www.nps.gov/pisp/index.htm Pipe Spring National Monument]

}}

File:First telegraph office in Arizona, Pipe Spring.JPG office, the first such office in Arizona]]

File:Pipe Springs National Monument, 2025-20-05.jpg

Pipe Spring National Monument is a United States National Monument located in the U.S. state of Arizona, rich with American Indian, early explorer, and Mormon pioneer history. Administered by the National Park Service, Pipe Spring was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966, and the boundaries of the Pipe Spring National Monument Historic District (a portion of the monument) were expanded in October 2000.{{NRISref|2008a}}

History

The water of Pipe Spring has made it possible for plants, animals, and people to live in this dry desert region. Ancestral Puebloans and Kaibab Paiute Indians gathered grass seeds, hunted animals, and raised crops near the springs for at least 1,000 years.

Antonio Armijo discovered the springs when he passed through the area in 1829, when he established by the Armijo Route of the Old Spanish Trail.

Pipe Spring was named by the 1858 Latter-day Saint missionary expedition to the Hopi mesas led by Jacob Hamblin. In the 1860s Mormon pioneers from St. George, Utah, led by James M. Whitmore brought cattle to the area, and a large cattle ranching operation was established. In 1866 the Apache, Navajo and Paiute tribes of the region joined the Utes for the Black Hawk War, and, after they raided Pipe Spring, a protective fort was constructed by 1872 over the main spring. The following year the fort and ranch was purchased by Brigham Young for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The LDS Bishop of nearby Grafton, Utah, Anson Perry Winsor, was hired to operate the ranch and maintain the fort, soon called Winsor Castle. This isolated outpost served as a way station for people traveling across the Arizona Strip, that part of Arizona separated from the rest of the state by the Grand Canyon. It also served as a refuge for polygamist wives during the 1880s and 1890s. The LDS Church lost ownership of the property through penalties involved in the federal Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887.

Although their way of life was greatly impacted by Mormon settlement, the Paiute Indians continued to live in the area and by 1907 the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation was established, surrounding the privately owned Pipe Spring ranch. In 1923, the Pipe Spring ranch was purchased and set aside as a national monument to be a memorial to western pioneer life.

The site today

Today the Pipe Spring National Monument, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Visitor Center, and Museum explain the human history of the area over time. Daily tours of Winsor Castle, summer "living history" demonstrations, an orchard and garden, and a half-mile trail offer a glimpse of American Indian and pioneer life in the Old West. The Paiute tribe runs a small adjoining campground.

Climate

Pipe Spring National Monument has a semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with cold winters and hot summers.{{Weather box

|location = Pipe Spring National Monument, Arizona, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1963–present

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 79

|Feb record high F = 78

|Mar record high F = 85

|Apr record high F = 91

|May record high F = 99

|Jun record high F = 110

|Jul record high F = 109

|Aug record high F = 105

|Sep record high F = 104

|Oct record high F = 93

|Nov record high F = 79

|Dec record high F = 69

|Jan avg record high F = 59.3

|Feb avg record high F = 65.6

|Mar avg record high F = 75.4

|Apr avg record high F = 83.3

|May avg record high F = 91.0

|Jun avg record high F = 99.6

|Jul avg record high F = 103.1

|Aug avg record high F = 99.5

|Sep avg record high F = 94.6

|Oct avg record high F = 85.4

|Nov avg record high F = 72.1

|Dec avg record high F = 60.6

|year avg record high F = 103.5

|Jan high F = 47.8

|Feb high F = 52.3

|Mar high F = 60.9

|Apr high F = 67.8

|May high F = 77.7

|Jun high F = 89.3

|Jul high F = 94.3

|Aug high F = 91.8

|Sep high F = 84.5

|Oct high F = 71.7

|Nov high F = 58.6

|Dec high F = 46.8

|year high F = 70.3

|Jan mean F = 35.4

|Feb mean F = 39.2

|Mar mean F = 45.9

|Apr mean F = 51.9

|May mean F = 61.3

|Jun mean F = 71.4

|Jul mean F = 77.8

|Aug mean F = 76.0

|Sep mean F = 68.2

|Oct mean F = 55.9

|Nov mean F = 44.1

|Dec mean F = 34.5

|year mean F = 55.1

|Jan low F = 23.0

|Feb low F = 26.0

|Mar low F = 30.8

|Apr low F = 36.1

|May low F = 45.0

|Jun low F = 53.5

|Jul low F = 61.2

|Aug low F = 60.2

|Sep low F = 51.9

|Oct low F = 40.0

|Nov low F = 29.7

|Dec low F = 22.3

|year low F = 40.0

|Jan avg record low F = 9.3

|Feb avg record low F = 13.1

|Mar avg record low F = 19.4

|Apr avg record low F = 24.6

|May avg record low F = 30.9

|Jun avg record low F = 41.0

|Jul avg record low F = 51.0

|Aug avg record low F = 51.1

|Sep avg record low F = 39.5

|Oct avg record low F = 26.9

|Nov avg record low F = 14.3

|Dec avg record low F = 7.4

|year avg record low F = 4.7

|Jan record low F = -12

|Feb record low F = -8

|Mar record low F = 4

|Apr record low F = 8

|May record low F = 20

|Jun record low F = 33

|Jul record low F = 40

|Aug record low F = 38

|Sep record low F = 28

|Oct record low F = 10

|Nov record low F = 0

|Dec record low F = -13

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 1.41

|Feb precipitation inch = 1.38

|Mar precipitation inch = 1.06

|Apr precipitation inch = 0.66

|May precipitation inch = 0.52

|Jun precipitation inch = 0.19

|Jul precipitation inch = 1.14

|Aug precipitation inch = 1.30

|Sep precipitation inch = 1.06

|Oct precipitation inch = 1.08

|Nov precipitation inch = 0.55

|Dec precipitation inch = 1.05

|year precipitation inch = 11.40

|Jan snow inch = 0.3

|Feb snow inch = 2.1

|Mar snow inch = 1.2

|Apr snow inch = 0.4

|May snow inch = 0.0

|Jun snow inch = 0.0

|Jul snow inch = 0.0

|Aug snow inch = 0.0

|Sep snow inch = 0.0

|Oct snow inch = 0.0

|Nov snow inch = 0.8

|Dec snow inch = 1.0

|year snow inch = 5.8

|Jan precipitation days = 5.4

|Feb precipitation days = 6.2

|Mar precipitation days = 4.7

|Apr precipitation days = 3.3

|May precipitation days = 3.8

|Jun precipitation days = 1.6

|Jul precipitation days = 5.2

|Aug precipitation days = 6.8

|Sep precipitation days = 4.2

|Oct precipitation days = 4.4

|Nov precipitation days = 2.7

|Dec precipitation days = 4.5

|year precipitation days = 52.8

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 inch

|Jan snow days = 0.7

|Feb snow days = 1.3

|Mar snow days = 0.6

|Apr snow days = 0.3

|May snow days = 0.0

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.0

|Nov snow days = 0.3

|Dec snow days = 1.4

|year snow days = 4.6

|unit snow days = 0.1 inch

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web |url=https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=vef |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data |access-date=2022-10-08 |archive-date=June 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616180404/https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=vef |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00026616&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020 |access-date=2022-10-08 |archive-date=October 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008230449/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00026616&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |url-status=live }}

|date=October 2022

}}

References

External links

{{wikivoyage inline|Pipe Spring National Monument}}
[https://www.nps.gov/pisp/index.htm Pipe Spring National Monument] – official site
{{HABS |survey=AZ-18 |id=az0047 |title=Pipe Spring Fort, Moccasin, Mohave County, AZ |photos=11 |color= |dwgs=15 |data=6 |cap=}}
[https://www.nps.gov/pisp/learn/historyculture/upload/PISP_adhi.pdf Pipe Spring National Monument: An Administrative History]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130205000232/http://video.kued.org/video/2304939929 Encounter on the High Desert] Documentary produced by KUED