Native Americans have used Hayden Butte, or ‘A’ Mountain, for ceremonial traditions and creating rock art such as petroglyphs for more than a thousand years. In recent decades, ASU students and Tempe residents have made their own mark on the butte with graffiti and litter.
The city of Tempe and the Tempe Historical Preservation Foundation have been struggling to keep up with maintenance of the mountain. Historic Preservation Officer Joseph Nucci said the lack of funding has made it difficult to consistently keep the grounds clean.
“The city spends thousands and thousands of dollars on the maintenance of the park because it’s our only preserve; it’s our natural preserve,” Nucci said. “We just don’t have that kind of budget anymore so if we can’t do the cleanup for the kids and the kids can’t be more careful or more sensitive or more respectful of that place, then it’s just going to get worse.”
Hayden Butte is listed in the Tempe Historic Property Register. The Butte continues to be a landmark and ceremonial grounds for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Gila River tribes.
President of the Tempe Historic Preservation Foundation Woody Wilson said the area surrounding the Butte and Tempe Beach Park was also used by the tribes in past.
“There were several tribes who lived here over the millennium and cultivated and used the river as irrigation,” Wilson said. “At one time that whole area where the butte is, where Monti’s (La Casa Vieja) is, where all of Tempe beach park is, all of that stuff was cultivated and irrigated.”
Hayden Butte’s placement in downtown Tempe creates heavy traffic on the mountain, which means a higher volume of litter and trash, Wilson said.
“It’s smack dab in the middle of everything. We’ve got ASU really close by there and that creates a lot of traffic,” Wilson said. “A lot of people want to go up that trail to get exercise and see the Butte and so it’s a lot of traffic and people forget that it is really a historic site.”
It’s important for hikers to understand the environmental impacts littering has on the butte, Nucci said. Trash receptacles are placed along the trails on the butte but water bottles, wrappers and other miscellaneous junk still makes its way onto the ground.
“All of the litter and plastic and junk that accompanies the walk on the butte should come back out,” Nucci said. “We’ve got trash cans there. They’re typically not being used. They’re typically leaving litter all around the place and there’s just no excuse for that, it’s like any park setting, why disrespect it in that way?”
Tempe History Museum Manager Amy Douglass said the best way to respect the grounds while hiking is to stay on the trail. Douglas said vegetation often gets trampled on and stepping on the loose rocks can increase erosion.
Since the '30s thousands of ASU students each year participate in the traditional white washing of the ‘A’ on the mountain and students will continually paint the ‘A’ throughout the school year.
Most of the graffiti comes from paint, nail polish and permanent markers, Douglas said, and has ruined some of the rock art.
“I think we need to respect ASU’s traditions; I’m certainly not advocating putting an end to those,” Douglas said, “But we need to find a way to honor ASU’s traditions and at the same time preserve the butte and keep the impact down to a minimum.”
Wilson said he is willing to work with the ASU Alumni Association and plans to meet with them to discuss ways to keep the butte clean and raise awareness of the environmental impacts.
“The ASU alumni Association is perfectly willing to help us and we expect that they too will let students know to begin to respect the landscape on the mountain,” Wilson said. “I think we can solve a problem, it’s just going to take some education and communication.”
Reach the reporter at sraymund@asu.edu
