Mesa Verde Administrative History

A. Early Leases

For many years prior to the establishment of the park, the Southern Ute Indian Reservation was used by cattlemen as a winter range because water was plentiful and the grass thick. Mesa Verde, in turn, was the summer range, at a high altitude, where water was very scarce and grass grew only in the bottoms and lower sides of the canyons. By the time the park was established Mesa Verde was already over grazed. [1]

No grazing was permitted within the confines of the park during the first years of its administration, but under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 25, 1910, providing for the development of the park resources, grazing permits were issued by the department at reasonable rates. [2]

On June 1, 1911, a cattle grazing privilege within the Southern Ute Indian Reservation was granted the Montezuma Stock Growers' Association for a period of seven months at the rate of $1.1875 per head. Acting Superintendent Wright was authorized to issue the first grazing permits, subject to the approval of the department, but was permitted to reduce the price per head, when circumstances warranted it, but in no case below $.80 per head. [3]

Park operations were complicated by grazing within and outside of the park lands. Both in winter and spring the cattle and sheep belonging to owners of patented claims upon the mesa were moved through the park. One homesteader—Ray G. Waters—was grazing 600 sheep in what was known as Waters Canyon in the park. He moved the animals every three days to prevent the sod from being destroyed. [4] Tentatively, pending receipt of permits from the department, Wright alloted grazing lands to three stockmen, including 630 cows at Morfield, Prater and Soda Canyon West, besides the 600 sheep at Waters Canyon.

The grazing of the above stock had been carried on for years and the provisions of the regulations with regard to stock within the park had apparently never been enforced. [5]

Besides their other numerous duties, the rangers were kept busy looking after the cattle and sheep leases. The people who had leases, as a rule, ran all the cattle and sheep they pleased, regardless of the number stipulated in the permits. This gave the rangers—never more than two—plenty to do. The only sheep lease on the park, Waters', caused more trouble than the others. His-persistence in over-stocking his leased ground caused the superintendent to suspend his permit. [6]

When sheep leases were permitted in the park, in 1911 and the early Spring of 1912, the park officials observed that in their grazing over the steep hill sides, sheep destroyed much more grass than they consumed. As one sheep followed another, they formed small trails that became gullies, scarring the hillsides into water courses which in turn destroyed the grass, washing it out by the roots.

By letter of December 15, 1913, the secretary informed Superintendent Shoemaker that the "experience of the Department in the matter of permitting sheep on the reserve has been such as not to warrant it to allow any sheep grazing in any of the national parks." [7]

All superintendents prior to 1921 were avid defenders of the grazing interests. Before the park was set aside, three homesteads were established on the future park lands to control the best water and grazing resources, as follows:

1. Wm. F. Prater, 320 acres, Prater Canyon
2. Josiah J. Morfield, 160 acres, Morfield Canyon
3. Roy C. Waters, 160 acres, Waters Canyon

These homesteads became primary headquarters for grazing and controlling the grazing resources of adjacent public domain, through the water developments on the homesteads. Before the department was authorized to grant leases, Superintendent Randolph improved the grazing potentialities of the park by installing steel towers and windmills over wells on the three private holdings, by digging new wells, and installing windmills near, the heads of East Navajo and the west fork of Little Soda Canyons. It is estimated that a minimum of 2,150 cattle and 600 to 2,400 sheep were grazed seasonably on park lands without permits or control, from 1906 through August 1911. [8]

It became the practice of the department to lease grazing lands to owners of patented lands within the park. The lessees were required to assist in maintaining order and protection against fires within the park. Prater, Frink and Armstrong, who obtained the first three cattle leases in the park in 1911, had owned land within the park boundary since the early 1900's. They had, besides, leased all of that territory lying south of the park and up to its southern boundary. [9]

By the National Park Service Act of August 25, 1916, the secretary and the Director of the Park Service were authorized, in their discretion to permit grazing of livestock in the national parks, except Yellowstone, which was specifically excluded. In a policy letter of May 13, 1918, Secretary Lane informed Mather that he could authorize the grazing of cattle where there was no impairment of the natural features of the park or interference with tourist travel. The policy was that where the superintendent could conscientiously say to the Director that there would be no impairment of the natural features of the park, and no interference with its use by tourists, cattle would be permitted, but no sheep except under special consideration by Washington. [10]

Superintendent Rickner, who managed the park for about eight years like a homestead, saw no harm in grazing operations. On a grazing application of James A. Frink, who in 1919 owned all the patented land on the mesa, Rickner wrote the secretary that large herds along the road in the summer would be a nuisance to automobile drivers, but that there was no one feature of the drive that had caused so much favorable comment from tourists as the occasional glimpse of a bunch of cattle near the watering places. "More photographs have been attempted of cattle seen along the drive than almost any other feature of the park." [11]

B. End of grazing

When Nusbaum visited Mesa Verde in 1907, as a member of Hewett's survey team, he noted that the effects of uncontrolled grazing were clearly evident on the land. On his return in 1921 as superintendent, the prodigious overgrazing of range cover had reduced the former conditions to a shambles. The destruction had been caused by the cattle of the small group of homesteaders who controlled and monopolized the water and grazing resources of the park. Besides the personal cattle of former Superintendent Rickner, his friends and in-laws grazed without fee. Frank G. Stevens held a grazing lease with 1,230 head. Nusbaum recorded that "the cattle were eating the place up, trampling down shrubbery, browsing, trailing over muddy roads, jumping up the banks of road slopes, tearing them down, and rolling rocks into the road in the process."

The first step toward the elimination of grazing was taken in 1921 when the superintendent announced that he intended to terminate all cattle grazing on park lands within five years, and that the number of head grazed under permit would be reduced 20 percent each year. Grazing was first ruled out of Chapin Mesa and properly controlled by drying up Mummy Lake, where cattle concentrated for water. When the lessees ran out of cash to pay for the permit fee of $2.00 per head, Nusbaum accepted, with Park Service approval, a drift fence in lieu of cash to hold cattle southward of the entrance highway, and more rigidly from Chapin Mesa and park headquarters. The area west of Chapin Mesa was another shambles but grazing privileges had been ended there.

When the desired drift fence was completed, the so-called Water's Well holding of Stephens, McGalliard, and Teague was deeded to the government in lieu of cash for a year of grazing privilege of the then greatly diminished number of cattle. The end was in sight when they cut down to 250 head in 1928. The grazing company failed right afterwards.

After grazing was terminated, Cline, president of the First National Bank of Mancos, tried to force the issue for himself and others with the argument that the tall matured grass constituted a fire hazard. His efforts were unsuccessful when the superintendent argued that the majority of fires during his administration were caused through the carelessness of stockmen and Southern Ute Indians. [12]

Nusbaum's action against grazing was in keeping with a resolution of the Sixth National Parks Conference held at Yosemite, November 1922:

Grazing is a commercial use of the park and therefore not desirable, and we do not want any recommendations that it be permitted unless absolutely necessary. We do not like grazing as it is not in accordance with the spirit of preservation of the park and presents administrative difficulties, taking rangers from their duty of protecting the game and taking care of visitors, and these privileges should be gradually reduced. [13]

The table below gives a general idea of the extent of grazing from 1906 to 1927:

C. New grazing threat

In 1942 the Mancos Cattlemen's Association tried to force the issue of grazing in Mesa Verde, but Superintendent Nusbaum was prepared to defend the no-grazing policy of the park. Public grazing hearings were held at Glenwood Springs in November 1942, by the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Surveys, headed by Senator Pat McCarran of Nevada. The Mancos Cattlemen's Association, which had petitioned the department for opening the park to spring and fall gazing by 1,000 head of cattle, was represented by President Ira Kelly and others. The policy of the park and the National Park Service with respect to grazing was successfully defended again by Nusbaum. In February 1943, Secretary Ickes approved the Director recommendations to exclude commercial grazing from Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison. [15]

How grazing affected directly the preservation of the ruins was explained by Nusbaum in 1943. Generally, he wrote,

in southwestern areas and particularly in Mesa Verde, soil of areas surrounding pueblo sites, cleared of principal vegetation, including forest cover in many locations, at the time and during the period of occupancy, was significantly enriched by human occupancy and use, and as a result, normally provides more abundant grazing resources than areas not utilized by past civilizations.

In Mesa Verde, when cattle grazing was permitted, cattle tended to concentrate in such open areas, accelerating damage to ruins and other archeological features therein. The Navaho Indians regularly herd sheep and goats over ruin sites for the added increment of forage available on or about them, in most locations, as well as the water supplies available in some seasons in the depressions formed by kiva and subsurface room excavations. Here in Mesa Verde, the large and as yet unidentifiable depressions, one of which, in the Far View group of major pueblos, has been called Mummy Lake, were converted to earthern water storage tanks by cattlemen in early days, and laterals dug to intercept surface runoff and increase natural impoundment of water. This procedure, and grazing damage through the years, significantly altered archeological features and natural appearances o these sites for some distance about them. [16]