first established in the 1930s when White Sands had to rely upon agencies other than the park service for equipment, supplies, and labor.[1]
In order to determine the impact of visitation at the dunes in the early postwar years, Region III Director M.R. Tillotson sent observers from Santa Fe in January 1947 to report on working conditions. Tillotson liked the compact design of the visitors center-headquarters complex, although "the crossing of foot and motor traffic at this tight and sometimes congested intersection [the entrance station] is a constant hazard." The regional director called for an extra "check-in" station, enlargement of office and museum space, more heat for the museum, and development of a "botanical garden" at the visitors center to handle the "numerous … questions regarding the identity of local plants." Tillotson found operations at White Sands satisfactory, and could not anticipate the need for substantial changes in the forseeable future.[2]
By the summer of 1947, the growth of travel could no longer serve as an excuse for deteriorating conditions. Johnwill Faris noted the increase in security violations, including speeding, vandalism, and alcohol abuse. The frequency of citations required Faris to negotiate with the justice of the peace in Alamogordo to hear White Sands' misdemeanor cases, and to mete out fines and punishment. The monument also went understaffed for several months that year to save money, as NPS reduced all SWNM units by $10,000. Most galling was the competition for good employees by the neighboring military installations, which did not labor under NPS reductions. Mrs. Tom Charles, operator of the White Sands Service Company, expressed dismay at the wage inflation caused by military spending. "Housemaids can get 75 cents an hour," said the widow of the dunes' first superintendent, "and common labor gets $1 an hour." Thus her efforts to find a clerk for the concession stand to accept $30 for a 40-hour week came to naught, as she found "that experienced service station attendants draw from $60 to $70 per week."[3]
Continued expansion of the two military installations bordering the dunes, plus increased leisure travel, led Johnwill Faris in early 1948 to exclaim: "If January is any indication of what we may expect in '48 woe be unto the White Sands." Profits at the Charles' concession had exploded after 1945, generating from 30 percent to 98 percent return on their investment. The blessings to the Charles' were a curse to Faris, however, and he had to accept more military surplus from Fort Bliss to construct picnic grills from used truck wheels. Drought conditions in the Southwest, which would persist well into the 1950s, further complicated visitor facilities such as picnicking. Toilets ran out of water, sand clogged septic tanks, and the threat of polio throughout the Southwest
- ↑ Faris to Region Three Director, July 24, 1946, RG79, NPS, WHSA Files, Denver FRC.
- ↑ Memorandum of Tillotson to the NPS Director, January 28, 1947, RG79, NPS, WHSA Files, Denver FRC.
- ↑ Memorandum of Faris to the Regional Director, February 24, 1947; Memorandum of John M. Davis, Acting Associate Regional Director, to Faris, February 28, July 29, 1947; Mrs. Tom Charles to Faris, June 1, 1948, RG79, NPS-CCF 1933–1949, Box 2429.
