Hubbell Trading Post
Cultural Landscape Report
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APPENDIX 6: Documentation of Past Treatments

In an effort to document some of the various treatment actions that have been undertaken at Hubbell Trading Post following its designation as a National Historic Site and its management by the National Park Service, archived records and files from both the park and the Southwest Regional Office were examined. These records were obtained from the Federal Records Center, Denver, Colorado; the National Archives and Records Administration, Denver, Colorado; the Southwest Regional Office, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Ganado, Arizona. Files reviewed for information included general park correspondence, maintenance and construction, and resource management files. However, the most pertinent were the park's Triple X Compliance log and associated files from the Southwest Regional Office. These included actions undertaken from January 1986 through May 1993. It should be noted that the limited number of entries for 1992 and 1993 are more likely to reveal a lack of documentation and paper processing than a reduction in the treatment actions that were undertaken within the park.

The following information was located in a review of the park's general maintenance and construction files located at the Federal Records Center in Denver, Colorado:

August 6, 1966

"Grasshoppers doing extreme damage to all trees and fields here"...recommends aerial spray of 160 acres with low volume malathion. [197]

March 17, 1976

"most recent activity has been to backfill over eroding corner of the ruin, at the top of the bank...Mike figures the gabions currently in place should withstand a torrent like the one that did damage. He has 48 gabions left but our source of rock has dried up and there is none available from any of the other nearby suppliers." [198]

A variety of other park related files including the Triple X compliance files, other miscellaneous memorandums and letters were examined at the Federal Records Center and revealed:

March 9, 1976

The penultimate paragraph in your trip report is the most important one to me. I perceive the conflict you point out as real as well as philosophical. It stems from our continuing effort to reconcile the imperatives to use and preserve, the pressures of familiar approaches to historic resources management versus the mandate to continue the trading post operation.

It appears that previous planning was predicated on the assumption that the trading would quickly waste away and the post would be converted to a museum. There also seems to have been an agreement that the buildings would generally be returned to their appearance in the time of J.L. Hubbell, Sr., with the exceptions of my house, the guest hogan, and HB-9. A few interiors would be restored, and time periods were settled upon for HB-1 and HB-2.

As a Tommy-come-lately, I am sure there are very strong arguments for these plans, based on discussions that took place long before my time. However, I have been bothered since my first week on-site by a feeling of chronological schizophrenia and a feeling that the restoration proposals not only entail vast construction and maintenance expenses, but that they raise as many questions and complications as they answer. Interpretively, I've sensed an orientation toward imitation of things past to the detriment of adequate interpretation of the visible present and its roots in the past.

September 24, 1976

"The National Park Service proposes several projects at Hubbell Trading Post...these projects are as follows: the original sod roofs will be removed and the attic space in both structures adequately insulated — in addition for greater safety, hot air ventilators will be installed in the frame roofs.

The removal by the Hubbells of a corner fireplace in the dining room of the Hubbell Home resulted in the instability of a viga that was previously supported by the removed mantle. Although the viga was later supported by a makeshift wooden frame, the viga is not fully secured and therefore presents a hazard to the visitor and to the historic building. A steel or wooden beam will be installed in the attic and the unanchored viga will then be attached through the ceiling to the beam.

A three foot drainage trench will be dug along two sides of both the Trading Post and the Home and a 4" perforated plastic pipe will be installed to accelerate drainage from around the respective foundations. The trench will then be filled with gravel to within 6" of ground level and topsoil used to fill the remainder. Two trenches, 250' and 150' in length will be dug and solid pipe laid from the structures to Pueblo Colorado Wash. Archeological test excavations will be conducted prior to the digging of the trenches to assure that no significant cultural resources will be destroyed. [199]

1979

NPS demolished 2 non-contributing wooden structures located on the school house/chapter house tract. One being a 1940's residence used for teachers at the school and the other a 1960's residence.

1979

NPS converted the school/chapter house to a Visitor Contact/Administration building. In 1980 the pump house was converted to public restroom facilities.

Some of the treatment actions have included erosion control activities undertaken in and adjacent to the Pueblo Colorado Wash, the installation of speed breaks, and the planting of a vegetable garden in 1986 and many years since; the stabilization and repair of the stone wall enclosing the Hubbell residence, resurfacing of the parking area (constructed in 1983), placement of soil fill over tree roots in Visitor Center area, and erosion control activities and excavation of the Sand Dune archeological site in 1987. In 1988 the matanza adjacent to the Hubbell residence was stabilized, the wooden door on the 2nd floor of the Hubbell barn was repositioned, and the gate post between the post and the Hubbell residence was replaced in kind. A preservation maintenance project for the corral gates was undertaken in 1989 along with the rehabilitation of the wooden gate between the barn and the annex building, and the replacement of copper screening on the Hubbell residence porch and the meat room.

In 1990 the historic root cellar was rehabilitated to serve as the park's library, an apricot tree was planted in the courtyard of the Hubbell residence and a juniper tree was planted near the bell tower south of the residence "to restore the historic landscape" and replace old tree. Also during this year two of the large elm trees in front of the Visitor Center building were removed and the flagstone apron outside of the eastern entrance to the trading post was removed and replaced at a higher elevation to eliminate the original step up into the building. The hand railing at the entrance to the Visitor Center was added in 1991, numerous historic cottonwoods determined to be in declining health were removed along the entry drive and housing area, and the soil roof of the barn was removed and replaced.

In January of 1994 a design was completed for modifying the access to the Visitor Contact and Administration Office, improving its safety and making it accessible with regard to UFAS and ADAAG policies. Although this design has been reviewed and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office has concurred that it will constitute a No Adverse Effect with regard to the historic resources, installation has not been completed.



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Last Updated: 26-Apr-2004