(16,000 acres) was not classified as "arid" or "semi-arid." Local farmers had but 4,509 acres under irrigation. In contrast, the Lincoln National Forest and the Mescalero reservation received federal payments, which met some of Otero County's obligations for provision of public services. Unfortunately, said Charles, local residents could no longer finance basic services and road construction "because we are broke." Far from describing the county in the glowing terms of a Miguel Otero or an Albert Fall, Tom Charles begged the congressman for help because "we have a denuded range, eroded watersheds, silted reservoirs, flooded farms and busted stockmen."[1]
Charles' correspondence is filled with similar letters to prominent officials like U.S. Senator Sam Bratton, H.L. Kent, president of the New Mexico State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts (later New Mexico State University), and regional directors of the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. His message at all times was the same: the need for less federal control of public lands (so as to increase local tax revenues), while expanding federal investment in the transportation and communications infrastructure. Charles and his wife, Bula, also began writing a series of travel articles for publications like the New Mexico Highway Journal (later the New Mexico Magazine), extolling not the hardships of Otero County but its blessings, most prominently the Lincoln National Forest, the Mescalero reservation, and the White Sands.[2]
These activities indicate that Tom Charles had more on his mind than merely shepherding a Park Service unit through Congress. Yet his energy, commitment, and acquired political network would be essential to the success of the monument, a condition recognized by local and national leaders alike. Charles also learned from the mistakes of Albert Fall, as he avoided the appearance of self-promotion or benefit in his pursuit of NPS status for the dunes. Dietmar Schneider-Hector contended that Charles merely mimicked the efforts of his mentor (Fall), and that Charles' "admiration" for the discredited Interior secretary somehow tainted his success. Schneider-Hector also took pains to separate Charles from the moniker "The Father of White Sands," crediting instead one Numa Frenger of Las Cruces, who wrote Charles in 1926 suggesting that "a large part of [the dunes] should be saved as a Government monument." Charles graciously acknowledged the concept, but reminded Frenger: "It has been a pretty hard fight to put the idea over. We are making progress however and such letters as yours will help us materially."[3]
- ↑ Tom Charles to the Honorable John W. Morrow, U.S. Representative, n.d. 1923, Charles Family Papers, MS 18, File 1-1, NMSU.
- ↑ H.L. Kent, President, New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts, Las Cruces, to Charles, July 8, 1924; Frank W. Pooler, District Forester, U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern District, Albuquerque, to Charles, July 21, 1924; L.W. Lawson, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, El Paso, to Charles, July 31, 1924; Bursum to Charles, January 5, 1925; Sam G. Bratton, U.S. Senate, to Charles, March 30, May 8, 1925, Charles Family Papers, MS 18, File 1-1, NMSU.
- ↑ Schneider-Hector, White Sands, 52; N.C. Frenger, Alamogordo, to Charles, March 23, 1926; Charles to Frenger, March 24, 1926, Charles Family Papers, MS 18, File 1-7, NMSU.
