PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

PART VII: THE CALM BEFORE THE COLD WAR (continued)

The Heaton Residence

On March 13, 1946, Zion's Assistant Superintendent Dorr G. Yeager, Chief Ranger Fred Fagergren, and a clerk ("Mrs. Russell") came to the monument to appraise the value and take pictures and measurements of the Heaton family's monument residence, the old CCC infirmary. (Fagergren came along to check the monument's fire extinguishers.) Heaton got the impression the men were making plans for disposal of the building, pending construction of the new residence. Heaton wrote optimistically in his journal, "Well, I think this summer will be our last here as a family." [1436] That was to be a highly inaccurate prediction. The appraisal of quarters was for the Government Accounting Office. The appraisal reported the residence had five rooms with bath, kitchen, and two sleeping porches. [1437] A small gasoline generator furnished electricity and a coal-circulating heater heated the residence. The family used a coal-burning cook stove with an attached hot water heater. There was no refrigerator or cooler and the grounds were not landscaped, the report stated. "All space is decidedly below average and is so situated that the custodian is subject to continual interruption by visitors." [1438]

In September 1946 Heaton wrote Zion to say that because the stoves were located on the east end of the residence the west part was nearly impossible to heat. Heatons asked Zion officials if he could dig a basement of sorts under the west part of the house and install a furnace there, but they turned down the request. So the family continued, as they had in the past, to heat the uninsulated wood frame building with coal and wood. After the war, the little 32-volt electric generator the Heaton family had relied on for electricity since 1940 began giving constant problems. "Sure wish we could get a 110 V motor for the washer as I spend 2 to 4 hours each week to get the 32 V [volt] plant to running." [1439] When Heaton couldn't solve the problem, he had to drive it to Zion for repairs and was given a temporary generator in its place. Even when it was working the little generator could no longer meet the family's needs. (They could use a washing machine or they could have lighting, but apparently not both at the same time.) In early December 1946, Heaton installed a 110-volt light plant provided by Zion. He then changed the electrical wiring so he could use either the 110-volt or the family's old 32-volt light plant. The family planned to use the 32-volt plant to run the washing machine and for late night use and to use the 110-volt plant for evening, when lighting demands were heaviest.

90. Custodian's residence (old CCC infirmary), 1946
(Photograph by Russell K. Grater, Pipe Spring National Monument, neg. 372).

In January 1947 a windstorm removed part of the residence roof. While Heaton did some repairs that month, he and a few of his sons did most of the repair work the following April. In December 1947 Heaton received word that an allotment of $600 was being given the monument to make improvements to the old CCC infirmary where his family had resided now for six years. To Heaton, it seemed a waste to pour money into such an old and temporary building, particularly since the plans for a new residence had been finalized. The building was cramped year-round and very cold in the winter. The best use of the funds, he thought, was to build on an addition to the residence and to insulate it. After discussing the matter with Edna Heaton and drawing up a sketch plan, he went to a Zion staff meeting with Mrs. Heaton in tow. The couple met to discuss their proposal with Zion officials. Their plans were approved in December.

Work on the residence took place during all of 1948 and proceeded slowly as Heaton's other monument responsibilities took priority. In February 1948 Heaton and four of his sons first raised the ceiling of the residence a foot, then used 68 sacks of rock wool to insulate the walls. In May and June, several interior walls of the residence were changed and the southwest corner room was enlarged, adding about 56 square feet of living space. Two fire hydrants were installed for fire protection, one 20 feet north of the residence and one 15 feet to the south. In July Heaton and two sons reroofed the garage. Work continued in the fall on plumbing, sewage, and interior painting. Heaton decided in December to change the cesspool for the residence to the south of the building, some 40 feet to the old CCC drain and sump hole. This required constructing a new cesspool and putting in a new sewer line to his house. Finally, as they appear to have done at the onset of each winter, Heaton and his sons boarded up the porch of the residence and around its foundation to keep out wind and snow.

When spring came in 1949, Heaton and his sons leveled up the ground on the south side of the house to plant lawn, trees, and shrubbery. His efforts to plant and grow a lawn continued throughout the summer. "All the area to be planted," he wrote. [1440] Heaton also picked up 400 bricks at Zion to rebuild the flue for the heater in the residence, a job he worked on the following September and October. At year's end, Heaton installed a hot water heater in the residence kitchen. In January 1950 Heaton and two of his sons, Clawson and Dean, put in a new sewer system which consisted of two 50-gallon iron tanks and just under 100 feet of open-end drain tile. The tile was buried about 2.5 feet with gravel around it. That August, Heaton laid new linoleum in the residence dining room and kitchen. Edna Heaton finally got an electric refrigerator in May 1950 from Zion. [1441] Compared to what they moved into 10 years earlier, the Heatons were now practically living in the lap of luxury!

During the summer of 1950, a fire inspection was made of the monument. In his report to Regional Director Tillotson, Superintendent Smith stated that even with all the improvements to the residence made by Heaton,

... it remains a virtual firetrap, tinder dry most of the time with winds across the area that this spring reached a velocity of 40 m.p.h. It would take but one small spark to wipe out the only government quarters in the area and all of the personal belongings of the ranger and his family. This building should be replaced with a modern residence as soon as possible. [1442]

The only other work to the family's quarters during this period was in November 1950 when Heaton replaced the old battens on the building with new ones. All the family's efforts to improve the residence, as it turned out, would be very worthwhile for the Heatons lived in the remodeled CCC infirmary for another 10 years.

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