Back To School!

By Pat Mellor

The rebuilt one-room Mt. Trumbull Schoolhouse, symbol of the pioneer spirit of the Arizona Strip, will be re-dedicated at noon MDT on October 13, 2001, little more than a year after it was destroyed by an arson fire.

“The beef’s ready, “donor Orvel Bundy assured the organizing committee at a recent meeting. Orvel’s beef will be part of a western barbecue furnished by Staheli Catering of St. George, Utah to accompany the noon dedicatory ceremonies for the reconstructed schoolhouse. A live band will furnish music. Among the speakers will be former teachers at the school and BLM Law Enforcement officer Ron Wadsworth, who was involved in the investigation of the fire, which ultimately led to the conviction of three male arsonists.

Reservations for the barbecue should be telephoned to 435-688-3200 by October 10. Those planning to attend are asked to carpool (high clearance vehicles are recommended), bring a hat or an umbrella for shade, and where possible, to bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Those who need transportation may call 435-688-3200. T-shirts commemorating the event will be available at the rededication.

Mt. Trumbull Schoolhouse is located at the base of Mt. Trumbull on the Arizona Strip about 60 miles south of St. George, Utah. The building has served for 80 years as the landmark and gathering place for the pioneer families and their descendants who farm and ranch on this high plateau just north of the Grand Canyon. The school was built in the 1920’s and was used continuously until 1968 as a school, church and general meeting place for Mt. Trumbull’s 200 to 300 inhabitants.

The Mt. Trumbull Historic Schoolhouse Steering Committee and the Bureau of Land Management Arizona Strip Field Office embarked on their first effort to restore the schoolhouse in 1990, after it had stood idle for more than 20 years. That first restoration produced not only a bright landmark for the vast plain at the foot of Mt. Trumbull, but a “living museum” filled with memorabilia cherished by the former students and teachers. Almost everything inside the building, was reduced to ash by the arson fire of July 31, 2000.

Volunteers, primarily descendants of the Bundy families who figured prominently in the settling of the area, came together over the past year to rebuild the building, recreate the furnishings, and once again put up pictures of the “old days” on the Strip. Some items stolen from the schoolhouse by the arsonists were recovered and returned, including the old roll-down maps. The school bell, damaged in the fire, has been restored by Dale Iverson of the Schoolhouse Committee. Materials and labor were donated by several businesses in southern Utah and northern Arizona.