test firings. The War Department would also reimburse White Sands staff for their expenses, house employees and their families at the Alamogordo air base at no cost, and pay for any damage to NPS lands and structures caused by Army missile testing.[1]
The pattern of park management that unfolded from 1940–1945 would recur throughout the Cold War era. The military pressed Johnwill Faris in November to sign the memorandum without circulating it through proper NPS channels. The state of New Mexico kept up its demands for an atomic monument, and the local chamber of commerce churned out recommendations for improving the marketability of the Tularosa basin. One such suggestion came from L. A. Hendrix, mayor of Alamogordo, who wired the new Secretary of Agriculture, Clinton P. Anderson, requesting that the B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic device over Hiroshima be brought to town for display at the junction of U.S. Highways 70 and 54. Alamogordo boosters had already begun to describe their town as "the cradle spot of the release of atomic energy." Stimulating their interest was the temporary storage at the nearby Roswell air base (later renamed Walker AFB) of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombers. All this activity, plus the potential for vast increases in White Sands' visitation, led Johnwill Faris in December to ask NPS officials to change his status as a park service "custodian." Faris believed that his work at the dunes merited the more-prestigious (and better-paid) title of "superintendent." All that Hillory Tolson could advise from Chicago was that the park service distinction between "custodian" and "superintendent" was "arbitrary," having been "approved by high administrative field officials some years ago." Tolson knew of the awkward status of Faris and his monument within the park system, and hoped that "this explanation will enable you to enjoy more thoroughly and with some peace of mind the forthcoming holiday season."[2]
- ↑ Memorandum of Tolson to Demaray, November 19, 1945; "Memorandum of Understanding," Department of the Interior and War Department, Corps of Engineers, n.d., Historical Files, Land Use White Sands Missile Range History (1940s), WHSA.
- ↑ Tillotson to the NPS Director, November 23, 1945, RG79, NPS, WHSA Files, Denver FRC; Telegram of L. A. Hendrix, Mayor of Alamogordo, to Clinton P. Anderson, November 29, 1945, RG79, NPS, Atomic Bomb Monument File L-58, Denver NARA; Tolson to Faris, December 19, 1945, RG79, NPS-CCF 1933–1949, Box 2427.
