PIPE SPRING Cultures at a Crossroads: An Administrative History

Deaths, Accidents, Missing Persons, and Family Matters

Deaths

In January 1964 Bozarth and Olsen attended the funeral of Mrs. Della Robertson in Alton. Mrs. Robertson was Edna Heaton's mother. On September 19, 1964, Leonard Heaton's father, Charles C. Heaton, died in Kanab. He was buried behind the LDS Church in Moccasin. On August 2, 1967, Ray Mose's wife Serene died in Kanab. She had been ill for several years with diabetes. The plane crash deaths on January 10, 1968, of Tribal Chairman Vernon Jake and others traveling with him were mentioned in an earlier section.

Accidents

Shortly after the official dedication of State Highway 389, a serious personal injury accident occurred one mile west of the monument on October 14, 1967. Jim Harter and Joe Bolander assisted the Arizona Highway Patrol at the scene of the accident. Also that month Bolander had an on-duty accident, and he had to undergo a hernia operation on November 9. He was away from the monument for one month while recovering.

Missing Persons

On November 25, 1969, Geerdes was called out as deputy sheriff to assist in locating the Ellison family from Fredonia. The mother and two teenagers failed to return home the previous evening. The three finally showed up at Pipe Spring at 2 p.m. having been stuck on a road above Cane Beds all night. [2096]

On January 21, 1969, Mel Heaton and NYC-enrollee Tim Rogers failed to return from a trip to BLM land where they were cutting posts to enlarge the monument's corral complex. Geerdes and a BLM official went to search from them in a four-wheel-drive vehicle and got stuck themselves on a dirt road leading from Moccasin to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. They stayed in the vehicle until 7 a.m. the next morning then walked about four miles to Moccasin. Owen Johnson and others from Moccasin located Heaton and Rogers about 3 a.m. the next morning. [2097]

Family Matters

The Bozarths attended the graduation of their son from high school at Wasatch Academy on May 25, 1965. In October that year, Joe Bolander's 16-year-old son suffered broken bones when his horse fell on him after accidentally running into a closed wire gate at night. In December Lenore Bozarth was hospitalized in St. George for five days, suffering from pneumonia.