disintegration, etc., that through the centuries likely produced our area." The ranger also suggested inclusion of such scenes in all park service educational materials ("slides, reels, etc."). Then aware that he might be judged harshly by the stern Pinkley, Faris concluded: "If this is an utter impossibility, blame it on my desire to put my unit across rather than on indication of too much insanity."[1]
To Faris' surprise, he found allies in the NPS officials who echoed his thoughts about the murals. Dale King suggested painted tiles with scenes of plants and animals fighting the forces of nature. "Perhaps Walt Disney himself could be interested in the project," King wrote to Pinkley. The park service would not want "the desired art [to] be cartoonish," but Disney, whom King identified as "good enough to rate the Metropolitan Museum of Art, could conceive and execute the wide-eyed tender animal and plant figures which would appeal to both adults and children." King realized that "execution must be adequate or the whole idea would look silly." Yet he judged White Sands as "probably the biggest 'play' area, so far as use is concerned, that the Service possesses." As for Disney (who would be preoccupied with making his classic film, Fantasia [1940]), regional officials thought that White Sands might intrigue him. Said Hillory Tolson: "Disney spends much time in Yosemite [National Park], and Yosemite animals have furnished much of his inspiration."[2]
While the Disney artists never came to the dunes, discussion of such issues as mural-painting indicated the rapid completion of the construction phase of the New Deal at White Sands. Hoping to use more WPA funds, Tom Charles suggested to his superiors that the NPS shoud refurbish the old house on the Oliver Lee ranch at Dog Canyon. Frank Pinkley, anticipating decisions by his successors in the 1970s, was "not at all convinced that the Lee ranch has any national significance." He conceded that "the story does have local interest," and informed Charles "that it would make a good county park." Then the future intruded unwittingly on the dunes, as the First Cavalry Division of the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, asked permission to plan maneuvers in an area "extending northward along the Oregon [Organ] and the San Andres Mountains up to and including the White Sands, and eastward into the Sacramento Mountains." Major James T. Duke asked Tom Charles for a list of "the large landowners or lessees" in the Tularosa basin between the dunes and Orogrande, and also a map of the area. He then inquired: "Is there any regulation in your service which would forbid us from using the White Sands for troop movement or a camping area if it were required in the problem?"[3]
The request of Major Duke presaged by three years the massive military presence entering the Tularosa basin because of World War II, and the subsequent seizure of ranch
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ King to SWNM Superintendent, March 10, 1939, RG79, NPS, WHSA Files. Denver FRC.
- ↑ Charles to Pinkley, March 20, 1939; Pinkley to Charles, April 6, 1939; Major James T. Duke, General Staff, First Cavalry Division. Fort Bliss, TX, to Charles, January 24. 1939, RG79, NPS, WHSA Files, Denver FRC.
