ST. GEORGE — Countless generations have depended upon the waters of Pipe Spring National Monument.
Specifically, Ancestral Puebloans, the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, missionaries and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Euro-American cattle ranchers, Spanish Explorers, traders and the U.S. federal government.
According to the Pipe Spring website, on May 31, 1923, the National Park Service created the monument located on the Arizona Strip between St. George, Utah, and Page, Arizona.
Wednesday marks the 100th anniversary of the monument’s Establishment Day, and activities and cultural displays will be available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Additional events continue during the first week of June, including cultural demonstrations such as blacksmithing, chuckwagon cooking, aquatic studies, geology and hydrology programs, pioneer music, Southern Paiute ethnobotany, cheese making, telegraphy and leatherwork.
Natalie Britt, president and CEO of the Zion Forever Project, which partners with the National Park Service, encourages the public to be part of the celebration.
“There will be a variety of native crafters and vendors and other vendors selling traditional interpretive crafts and arts,” Britt told St. George News. “It’s just a wonderful event.”
Throughout 2023 there will be a variety of programs at the site, including discussions of the memories of individuals and families across all cultures who have positively impacted the monument. But not all the memories have been positive ones. According to the park website, in the past 100 years, the area has experienced indentured servitude, Native American slavery, religious persecution, water usage in a desert climate, the loss of vast grasslands and more.
Britt said that visiting sites like Pipe Spring National Monument could help the National Park Service with reducing the visitor impact on places like Zion National Park. Pipe Spring is about 60 miles southeast of St. George.
“Pipe Spring is so family-friendly and easy to get around, and it’s a wonderful stay-cation for locals,” Britt said. “I really urge people to get out and visit because it gives you a sense of it’s connected to all of this. It’s all I think we have to tell the story of the people to understand the why.”
Britt said the interpretation of pioneer culture and the Paiute Native American culture was not always an easy interaction. She said that people during that time in history were trying to survive.
“I do not envy what they do in those conditions,” Britt said.
To better understand the 40-acre monument on the Arizona Strip’s history, there will be rangers, tribal representatives and park partners on hand to answer questions. For more event details, click here.
A new opportunity at Pipe Spring is how people can visit the interior of Winsor Castle. In honor of its centennial year, the monument is breaking its rules and creating an interactive activity room in the fort walls, according to the website.
A unique part of Pipe Spring’s history is the opportunity to visit with rangers. In the 1880s and 1890s, the remote fort at Pipe Spring became a refuge for wives hiding from federal marshals enforcing anti-polygamy laws. Many women and children hid at Pipe Spring to save their husbands and fathers from prosecution. A 45-minute ranger-led program is offered at the visitor center and museum to discuss this part of their history.
Click on NPS video below for more about Pipe Spring’s history.
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