Historic Structure Report: Chinle Trading Post, Thunderbird Ranch, and Custodian's Residence - Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona
Harrison LS and Spears B. 1989. Historic Structure Report: Chinle Trading Post, Thunderbird Ranch, and Custodian's Residence - Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona. Historic Structure Report. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Southwest Regional Office, Santa Fe, New Mexico
This Historic Structure Report for Chinle Trading Post, Thunderbird Ranch, and Custodian's Residence describes historical structural features within of Canyon de Chelly, identifies existing conditions, and provides recommendations for preserving or maintaining them. This report was prepared as a tool to guide future management of the Canyon de Chelly site and the buildings of Thunderbird Lodge. Through the years the buildings and site have undergone considerable change. Some of those changes have been compatible, while others have been incompatible with the remaining historic fabric and historic scene. This document identifies the extant pieces of historic fabric and scene and recommends ways to preserve or maintain them. The log post known as the Chinle Trading Post was built in 1902 by Samuel E. Day. The services that it provided and the barrenness of the surrounding landscape, stripped of vegetation by overgrazing, made the trading post a natural place for people to gather. It formed the core for the development which followed. In the 1920s, Leon (Cozy) McSparron saw the potential for expanding the business operations to include a guest ranch. Between 1919 and 1932, he expanded the trading post and changed the informal accommodations into a dude ranch that he called Thunderbird Ranch. McSparron became temporary custodian of the monument when it came under jurisdiction of the NPS. A custodian's adobe residence for the permanent NPS custodian was built in 1935. This report describes the changes in ownership and appearance of the property, including the landscape. Treatment recommendations focus on two areas: continuity with the historic scene, and a change in landscape treatments and irrigation practices. It includes photos, maps, and a survey of the ten historic buildings at the site.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Harrison, Laura; Spears, Beverley
- Date of Issue
- 1989-10
- Publisher
- U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- CACH , HIST , IMR
- Keywords
- adobe, Architecture, Canyon De Chelly, Cultural Resources, custodian, Development, ehistory, grazing, guest ranch, historic scene, History, irrigation, landscape, Navajo, Preservation, Pueblo Revival, pumphouse, Resource Management, resource restoration, rock hogan, Sam Day, social center, Thunderbird, tourism, trading post
- Subjects
- CRIS-HS: 100045: Custodian's Residence (100045) , CRIS-HS: 100046: Thunderbird Lodge Cafeteria , CRIS-HS: 100051: Thunderbird Lodge Log Barn , CRIS-HS: 100053: Thunderbird Lodge Pumphouse , CRIS-HS: 061731: Thunderbird Lodge Ranchhouse , CRIS-HS: 100052: Thunderbird Lodge Stone Sheep Shed , CRIS-HS: 100054: Thunderbird Lodge Stone Walls , CRIS-HS: 100050: Thunderbird Lodge Unit 9 , CRIS-HS: 100047: Thunderbird Lodge Units 10,11 , CRIS-HS: 100048: Thunderbird Lodge Units 3,4,5,7 , CRIS-HS: 100049: Thunderbird Lodge Units 6,8