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Grand Canyon Pioneers Society |
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Pasture Wash, is located 28 miles west of South Rim Village. It has always been a cross-roads, a place to stop for a breather on the way to somewhere else. There was no water here, a dry dusty place used very little by red man or white man, and if not fo r William Wallace Bass, it probably wouldn't even be on the map.
"Billy" Bass left the befouled air of New York City in 1880 because his condition was so bad his doctors gave him only a few months to live. Hoping the dry air of the desert southwest might restore his health, he fled the East Coast for New Mexico. He wo rked his way south and west, living in southern Arizona for a brief time before moving on to Chihuahua, Mexico. His health improved, and in 1883 he moved north to Williams, Arizona. Back East, Bass had worked for the Erie Railroad in a number of capaciti es over a period of 14 years. In western frontier towns, you took work where you could find it, so Bass relied on what he knew best and went to work for the railroad. He helped build track between Williams and Needles for a few months, earning enough to save a grub stake. He then took on a partner and together they staked a homestead claim seven miles north of Williams near a water hole on Cataract Creek. His partner, a man named Charlie, worked the ranch while Bass concentrated in Williams working at o dd jobs building storage bins, delivering ice for the railroad, playing fiddle at local dances, and serving as court clerk, deputy sheriff, and constable (all at the same time) for Williams Justice Court, and still found time to help his partner work the ir claim. Then he heard about the Grand Canyon.
Accounts vary on why Bass first traveled to the south rim of Grand Canyon. We do know that he was there with a man named McKinney in the fall of 1884. Bass' son, William Guy Bass, claimed that a search for gold brought his father to the rim. He said that one of John D. Lee's 17 wives, Emma, met with Bass in Williams and showed him a map describing the location of John D.'s gold nugget cache. Lee, of course, was the Mormon who was executed for his part in the infamous Mountain Meadow Massacre. Where exce pt for a few young children, the entire membership of a wagon train of Gentiles traveling through Utah were slain while camped there. The Mormons had enlisted the Indians to do the dirty work, but had to finish the job when they failed. Lee was considere d the leader, and thus was the one who had to pay for the murders. He eluded capture by Federal agents for a number of years, first by fleeing Utah for Lonely Dell, situated on the banks of the Colorado River near the mouth of the Paria. Though he was ex communicated from the church, he built a ferry to transport church members across the river. After getting word that the Feds had tracked him to Lonely Dell, Lee mounted his best horse, bade Emma good-by, and headed for parts unknown, ending up hiding ou t in a tributary of Cataract Creek. He camped in the canyon that would later bear his name until the Havasupai Indians found him half starved, and took him to Supai Village. According to George Wharton James (In And Around The Grand Canyon) he was :
.. . found by the Havasupais, and secretly taken into the depths of their canyon home. Here for nearly three years he remained, teaching them improved methods of irrigation, fruit culture, vegetable raising, etc.
Presumable, when he left the ferry site at Lonely Dell Lee took his gold nuggets with him, perhaps hiding them somewhere in the vicinity of Lee Canyon.
Bass never found Lees' gold nuggets, but he soon realized the potential earnings from owning toll roads. Hearing that Ralph Cameron was charging a dollar a head for his Bright Angel Trail heading into the Canyon from the South Rim Village, Bass filed his own road and trail claims, On August 26,1891, he filed a claim with the Coconino County for a "Pass to the Grand Canyon" to "construct, complete, and operate . . . a Toll Road or Trail as provided by law . . . Said Road or Trail shall be known as the My stic Spring Trail." Bass purchased a stagecoach from the U.S. Army, built a road from Williams to his camp on the rim, and started taking paying customers to the Canyon from Williams as early as 1892. The tourists had several options once they arrived at Bass Camp. They could go down to the Colorado River, go down as far as Mystic Spring on what is now Spencer Terrace (Mystic Spring Plateau), or another option was the backtrack to Pasture Wash, turn west and go down Lee Canyon to visit the Havasupai Ind ians and see the waterfalls there. It is reasonable to believe that Bass maintained a livestock facility and water catchment system at Pasture Wash to keep fresh horses and mules for trips to Supai Village. George Wharton James, who later become a life-l ong friend of Bass', describes his first stagecoach ride to Bass Camp in his book In and Around The Grand Canyon:
"When we strike the borders of the cedar and juniper forest on the northern end of our trip . . . a vast grassy field is entered, then the enclosed pasture, and after traveling three miles further . . . the stage stops by the side and at the very brink of the Great Abyss (Bass Camp).
The "enclosed pasture" James refers to, is Pasture Wash. Bass was not a cattleman, so it can be assumed that horses and mules were kept inside the corral. In order to provide water for the livestock, I believe Bass built a rain catchment system similar t o others he built and maintained in nearby areas, including Bass Camp.
In 1924, the Santa Fe Land Company required Bass to list his assets in order to establish a price-tag for his Canyon holdings. Under the heading entitled "DAMS AND CISTERNS", and on the second line he combines "One cistern on the rim, two cisterns sou th of Bass Camp . . . $600.00".
In early 1925, he and his wife sold their properties within the park for a total price of $25,000.00. This sale to the holding company of the Santa Fe only included his property that existed within the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park, so the two cisterns listed as south of Bass Camp would have to be located not far south of the rim. It safe to assume that at least one of these cisterns was (and is) to be found at Pasture Wash.
It turned out that Fred Harvey was behind the purchase of Bass' holdings by the Santa Fe Railway. Interested only in eliminating Bass as a potential competitor, his properties were "donated" to the Grand Canyon National Park. When the Park Service built the Pasture Wash Ranger Station the following year (1926), and later when they used the station as a base camp for stringing the telephone line to Supai Village (1936), water was needed for the crews. The NPS records do not mention hauling water to Pastu re Wash, but the 1935 NPS Master Plan notes as existing, "A water system, consisting of a 30 x 30 (feet) corrugated rain catchment, 6000-gal. concrete cistern, and pipeline from cistern to ranger station and corral." Perhaps Bass' water catchment was imp roved upon at the same time as the construction of the station. A wooden barn also exists at Pasture Wash that seems to predate the Ranger Station. Did Bass build the barn? I think so.
In 1976, many years after the station was last manned by rangers, the YCC (Youth Conservation Corps.) improved the rain catchment system and repaired and reroofed the barn. They lived in the hay loft of the barn where their names, along with some humorou s comments, are carved into the rafters and roof decking. While there, the youth corps. removed the telephone lines that were installed to Supai village in 1936. They took off the corrugated iron sheets of the rain catchment and replaced them with a smoo th concrete slab. The corrugated sheets were then used to re-roof the b am.
In 1989, the "Pasture Wash Historic Structures Report" was prepared for the NPS by Jaclee Wray of the Resources Management Division. After noting that none of the four existing structures (station, barn, rain apron, and water cistern) had been declared h istoric structures, she recommended the relocation of the station, and demolition of the other 3 structures. Her recommendation was based on the discontinued use of the station, the dilapidated condition of the station, and the lack of alternative use of it by NPS. Her estimate to relocate (to the South Rim Village) and rehabilitate the station building, and demolish and remove the other structures (in 1989 dollars) was $139,700.00. NPS could not justify these projected costs, and made a decision to don ate the station to the Havasupai Indians, who were interested in the materials. Fortunately, when some of the rangers heard about the impending loss of the station, they came up with an alternate plan. Ranger Kim Crumbo heads up a group that would like t o convert the station to a summer classroom for geology students. The students would camp in tents outside of the station (classroom), and of course would take field trips down the South Bass Trail to view the unusual geology of this section of the Grand Canyon. Ranger Cumbo has personally cleaned up the site and has removed old insulation and wallboard from the interior of the building. A set of plans and specifications have been prepared by the park architect and change of use for the building from st ation to classroom is underway within the park system.
Acting as director for the Grand Canyon Preservation Group (GCPG), I met with NPS historian, Doug Brown at Pasture Wash in September 1995, and we discussed the conversion of the station. We at GCPG would like to assist the Park Service with this worthwhi le project. In the summer of 1996, we would like to repair and clean the water collection and storage system, and repair weather damage to the barn, I have estimated this work to cost less than $1000.00 in material and equipment rental costs. All labor f or this part would be done by volunteers. In 1997, after the paperwork is finished within the Park System, we would like to assist in the renovation of the station. helping NPS to alter it into the proposed classroom, I believe the materials to accomplis h the work could be purchased for less than $15,000.00. We are hopeful that most of the labor will be performed by volunteers. Anyone interested in donating money or time to this project can call me at (505) 255-7699, or send your donations ($25 minimum, please) to Grand Canyon Preservation Group P.O. Box 3856 Fairview, N.M. 87533-3856.
Used by permission of the Grand Canyon Pioneer Society.
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