In 1920, successful businessman and conservationist Stephen T. Mather stopped at Pipe Spring while touring the region by automobile. As the head of the new National Park Service, he believed that developing and promoting large scenic parks would win America’s support for a national park system. Standing atop the ruins of West Cabin, he discussed a Pipe Spring link between Zion and Grand Canyon and predicted that Americans would soon travel by their own cars to see the marvels of the West once rural Utah’s roads improved. The money to buy these 40 acres came from the Heaton family, the Mormon Church, the Union Pacific Railroad, 15 private citizens, and Mather himself. After dedicating Zion National Park in 1920, Mather spent three years building consensus to have the site declared a national monument.