Multimedia Mania/abacus-multimedia-mania.iso/dp/0099/00995.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00995}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{The Big Bend
Chapter 7: The National Park}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Tyler, Ronnie C.}
$Affiliation{National Park Service;U.S. Department Of The Interior}
$Subject{park
bend
big
national
land
state
texas
townsend
bill
service
see
pictures
see
figures
}
$Date{1984}
$Log{See The Window*0099501.scf
See Sierra del Carmen*0099502.scf
}
Title:       The Big Bend
Book:        Chapter 7: The National Park
Author:      Tyler, Ronnie C.
Affiliation: National Park Service;U.S. Department Of The Interior
Date:        1984

Chapter 7: The National Park

     Quiet spoken and somewhat timid, Everett Ewing Townsend was nevertheless
a man of deeds.  Coming to the Big Bend young, he had seen firsthand its
spellbinding mountains and canyons.  He had ridden through the cacti and river
bottom on horseback as a customs inspector for the United States government
and searched its valleys and deserts as a Texas Ranger. As sheriff of Brewster
County the Big Bend was his paradise; as a member of the Texas legislature it
became a personal cause.  Throughout the struggle to establish a national park
in West Texas, Townsend made contacts, wrote letters, and lobbied with the
influential.  He was a cowboy who had spent most of his life in the nearest
thing to the frontier in West Texas, rather than a forceful man or a diplomat.
He wanted to preserve what was left of the Texas wilderness for others, and by
the time he was through, the Big Bend was a national park, and he was its
"father."

[See The Window: "The Window" (sometimes called "The Pour Off") in the Chisos
Basin.]

     When Texas deeded 707,894 acres of the Big Bend country to the Federal
Government in 1944, it was the fruit of many years of dreaming and working by
scores of people.  Townsend was, perhaps, the first to think of the region as
a park.  But the soldiers who came in 1916 helped spread the notion.  Col.
Frederick W. Sibley and Col. George T. Langhorne, who had spent several years
riding through the rough country, recounted the splendor of the region.  The
early visitors were impressed with grandeur that local residents took for
granted, and returned home carrying news of the Chisos, Santa Elena Canyon,
and the great variety of bird life.  So when the proposal for a Big Bend
National Park surfaced in 1935, there was ready made national support for the
idea.

     One of Jodie Harris' illustrated postcards to the "folks back home"
pictured a conversation between Major Coulter of the 10th Pennsylvania and
Capt. E. A. Davis of Company I, 4th Texas.  "The Big Bend is a wonderful
country - moulded by nature for a park" says Coulter.  "Sure!" answers Davis.
"It's Great!  When we get back home let's start a move to make it a National
Park."  Shown on a cliff overlooking the camp, the two men seem to be sharing
what Harris terms a "new Big Bend."  Picked up by the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram, the picture was spread across the State.

     The Big Bend found new friends in the 1920's.  Victor Schoffelmayer,
agricultural editor for the Dallas Morning News and president of the Texas
Geographic Society, first visited the proposed park with Dr. W. D. Hunter's
entomological expedition in 1920.  His writing popularized the region as, in
Robert Hill's phrase, the "Garden of Gods."  In 1923 Max Bentley, a freelance
journalist, sat talking with a friend beside the placid waters of the Rio
Grande.  "Some day this will become a great national park," the acquaintance
ventured.  Bentley listened with curiosity as the man recounted the wonders of
the Big Bend: the scenic attractions, the interesting geological and
biological examples, the Chisos Mountains, the Rio Grande itself.  Impressed,
he returned to Alpine and wrote the first news article promoting the idea for
a Big Bend National Park.

Texas Canyons State Park

     Still nothing was done to transform the idea into reality until 1931 when
a newly-elected state legislator, R. M. Wagstaff from Abilene, became
interested in the Big Bend.  Wagstaff had seen the December 1930 issue of
Nature Magazine, in which J. Frank Dobie, a folklorist and writer on the
faculty at the University of Texas, had summarized the "distinctive charms" of
Texas and lamented the fact that none of the millions of acres of Texas'
public land had been set aside for a park.  The scenery and international
character of the Big Bend particularly intrigued him.  During the second
session of the 42nd legislature, Wagstaff began to investigate whether the
State owned any land in the Big Bend that might be set aside for a park.  As a
lawyer, he was familiar with the laws regarding the State's public lands, so
he called upon Land Commissioner J. H. Walker, feeling that there was real
potential for a park in West Texas.  Wagstaff and Walker discovered that the
State did own thousands of acres in the Big Bend, and they also found out that
several other tracts had been sold but had been forfeited within the last few
months because of non-payment of interest.  Walker could have proceeded with
forfeiture of the land at that moment, but the policy of the General Land
Office required that the owners be notified that the interest was overdue and
that they be given an opportunity to pay.  He suggested that Wagstaff defer
filing his bill for a State park until the next session of the legislature,
when the owners' options would have expired and they would know precisely how
much land the State owned.

     Wagstaff was ready for action when the next session of the legislature
convened in January 1933.  Checking with the land office, he found that none
of the owners had paid the interest and that many more acres were now legally
in the hands of the State.  Since he was from Taylor County, a long way from
the Big Bend, Wagstaff contacted Townsend, then the representative from the
87th District including Brewster County, and B. Frank Haag of Midland, the
88th District, for support for the bill.  By then Wagstaff had found Hill's
1901 article on the canyons of the Rio Grande and had been transported by the
scientist's descriptions and pictures. Thrusting the story before Townsend, he
asked, "Is this article true?  Do you have all of this wonderful scenery out
in your district?"  Although Townsend felt that much of Hill's writing about
the bandits of the Big Bend was exaggerated, he readily confirmed that Big
Bend contained all the scenes Wagstaff referred to, and more."But 99 percent
of the people of our own state don't know of its existence," he lamented.

     Wagstaff pursued the idea.  "Don't you have a lot of unsold public school
land along the canyons?" "Doubtless there is," answered Townsend.  "It's not
worth a damn for any commercial purpose, so why should people bother to own
it?"  Townsend was correct, but most of the river bottom, mountain, and scenic
land was privately owned.

     Wagstaff spurred Townsend into action.  Not wanting to begin without
consulting his constituents, Townsend first wrote to several, then returned to
Alpine to talk with them.  Assured of their cooperation, he came to Austin
with a portfolio of excellent pictures of Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas
canyons, the Chisos Mountains, and other scenic points in the Big Bend.  Many
of the pictures used to publicize the region were either taken by or gathered
by a photographer who had first come to the Big Bend as a mule teamster in
1916, W. D. Smithers of Alpine.

     Supported by Townsend and Haag, Wagstaff introduced a bill setting aside
fifteen sections of land for a park.  Given its first reading on Texas
Independence Day, March 2, 1933, the bill called for an appropriation of
$5,000 to be paid the public school fund for the land.  The bill was referred
to the appropriations committee, where Townsend, with his encyclopedic
knowledge of the Big Bend, a no-nonsense attitude, and a portfolio of
pictures, proved to be an excellent lobbyist.  J. Frank Dobie, who had first
caught Wagstaff's attention with his article, also testified effectively on
behalf of the measure.  The committee reported favorably on the bill, giving
the three West Texas legislators what they considered a major victory during
the economy-minded 1930's.  Although the bill was introduced late in the
session, they maneuvered to get it before the legislature before adjournment.
On May 19, Speaker Coke Stevenson laid the bill before the House.  It was
amended to reserve all the minerals for the public school fund, to correct
some descriptions of the land, and to lower the appropriation from $5,000 to
$1,250.  Still feeling that they had a good bill, the sponsors accepted the
amendments, and Wagstaff moved that the law requiring the bill to be read a
third time on another day be suspended.  His motion carried, and the bill was
passed 90 to 27.

     The measure was then sent to the Senate where Ken Regan of Pecos was its
sponsor.  Although time was short, Senator Regan maneuvered the bill through
without delay.  The appropriation was further lowered to $1,000, but the
Senate approved it 26 to 3 on May 24.  The following day it went back to the
House for concurrence.  The House concurred by a large majority, 109 to 3.
Enrolled, signed by the Speaker, and sent to the Secretary of State, the bill
was signed by Gov. Miriam A. ("Ma") Ferguson on May 27.  Since the law
contained a clause making it effective immediately, Texas Canyons State Park
was established upon the governor's signature.

     But the lawmakers were not through.  When the legislature met in special
session in September 1933, Governor Ferguson allowed two bills increasing the
size of the park to be introduced.  Townsend sponsored a measure transferring
all lands that had been forfeited because of non-payment of taxes south of
latitude 29 degrees 25 minutes in Brewster and Presidio counties to the State
for the park.  Wagstaff introduced a bill to change the name of the park to
Big Bend State Park and withdraw from sale all public school lands in Brewster
County south of 29 degrees 25 minutes. Both bills were referred to the
Committee on Public Lands and Buildings, where they were reported favorably.
Townsend's bill came up first, so Wagstaff attached his as an amendment, and
both bills passed as a single measure on October 4.  The Senate added minor
amendments, and 8 days later, on the last day of the session, the House
concurred.  Governor Ferguson signed the bill on October 27.  An estimated
150,000 acres were added to the park.

Big Bend National Park

     Townsend was still not satisfied.  He immediately began urging
Congressman R. Ewing Thomason to introduce legislation creating a national
park in the Big Bend.  When Thomason was in Alpine, Townsend invited him to
visit the park site.  When the congressman refused, saying he did not have
time, Townsend began to apply pressure.  "Well, Ewing," Townsend reportedly
said, "you're going to [visit the park] if I have to threaten you with your
constituency or a six-shooter."  The phone calls, telegrams, and letters of
park supporters made Thomason aware of the significance of the project.  "Tell
that Ewing Townsend I'll come see the park if he'll call off his dogs,"
pleaded the congressman.  Thomason visited the Big Bend in November 1933 and
was so impressed with what he saw that he immediately began to work on a bill
to establish a national park.  Townsend continued to support the park concept
every chance he got.  "I am so full of it that I have got to unload on
someone, and just at present you are the only available victim and will have
to suffer the consequences," he wrote Col. Robert H. Lewis of Fort Sam
Houston.  Judge R. B. Slight had similarly talked with Senator Tom Connally
during one of the senator's brief visits to Alpine.

     Before the legislation could be passed, much work had to be done.  It
fell primarily to Townsend to prepare for the distinguished visitors who must
visit the Big Bend before any action could be taken on a national park.  The
park promoters hoped for a Civilian Conservation Corps camp for the Big Bend
to do the necessary development work, but several applications had proved
unsuccessful because there was no adequate water supply.  One good source at
Government Spring was unavailable because the owners wanted more than the
Alpine Chamber of Commerce could afford to pay. On three occasions the chamber
failed to get other sites approved.

     Townsend's suggestion enabled the organization to succeed on the fourth
try.  Some of the best land in the hoped-for park was in the Chisos Mountains
basin, where Townsend's nephew, Ira Hector, owned a large plot of land.
Thinking that water was available there, Townsend convinced Hector to deed the
land to the county.  Residents from Alpine and Marathon contributed money for
the well.  Townsend took the digging crew into the basin, while James Casner,
president of the Chamber of Commerce, requested that the county commissioners
build a road into the basin.  By the time the crew began digging at a site
suggested by Dr. C. L. Baker, head of the geology department of Texas A. & M.
College, time was running out on the fourth CCC camp application.

     The men were at work by 9 a.m. April 16, 1934.  Mrs. Townsend cooked
lunch and her husband carried it to the men so no time would be lost.  By 2:45
p.m. they drew out the first bucket of water.  The following day they rigged a
gasoline pump to keep the water out of the well so they could dig deeper.
Because water had to be found immediately, Townsend called the well Agna
Pronto.  A road grader soon cut a path into the basin, and the government
approved the location for the CCC camp.

     Teams of specialists quickly visited the region.  The National Park
Service filed a report on the Big Bend in January 1935, pointing out the
advantage of the area as a national park.  Members of the CCC camp constructed
barracks in the basin as headquarters for the operations and built roads and
cleared trails in preparation for opening the park.

     Texas Senators Connally and Morris Sheppard and Representative Thomason
introduced identical bills in Congress on March 1, 1935, calling for the
establishment of the Big Bend National Park when Texas deeded adequate land to
the Federal Government.  The bill passed, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signed it into law.  Allowing for private donation of as much as 1,500,000
acres, the legislation was only an enabling act with no appropriation or
enforcement provision.  The actual acquisition of the land was left to the
State of Texas.  Newspapers across the state carried the news.  "Sweeping
vistas . . . will greet visitors to Texas' first national park in the Big
Bend," a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noted.

Dream Of An International Park

     National Park Service officials, meanwhile, were at work on a more
ambitious project.  When Senator Sheppard presented the idea of a Big Bend
park to President Roosevelt in February 1935, he suggested that it should
really become an international park.  The President liked the idea, and
Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes set about to make it a reality.
Assistant Director Conrad L. Wirth of the National Park Service and several
colleagues met with a Mexican commission in Alpine in August 1935 to discuss
the prospects.  The group made a pack trip into the mountains, climbed to the
South Rim, and viewed the magnificent Sierra del Carmen on the Mexican side of
the river, Elephant Tusk Mountain to the south, and Santa Elena Canyon 20
miles to the west.  Following Wirth's report - which predicted that the
international park would "be one of the greatest recreational and educational
ventures ever undertaken by the National Park Service" - meetings were held in
El Paso in October and November.  As a result, a temporary joint park
commission was established.

     The idea won new friends in 1936.  Secretary of State Cordell Hull set up
a formal commission to meet with the Mexican commission to plan the park,
forest reserves, and wildlife refuge, not only for a Big Bend but for other
prospective international parks.  In February, the joint commission again met
in Alpine to inspect the proposed Mexican park area.  Entering through the
small village of Boquillas, the commission spent several days in the Sierra
del Carmen, the Fronteriza range, and in nearby villages. They returned
through San Carlos, visiting Castolon, Tex., as they emerged from Mexico.
(This conference was marked by tragedy, when Roger W. Toll, the superintendent
of Yellowstone National Park, and George Wright of the Park Service's wildlife
research division, were killed in a car wreck.  Toll Mountain, adjacent to
Casa Grande, and George Wright Peak, both in the Chisos, are named for the
officials.)  Another meeting was held in El Paso in November, and boundaries
for the proposed park were agreed upon: the western point was downriver from
Lajitas, the eastern point just above Stillwell Crossing.  Markers were set at
these points.

[See Sierra del Carmen: The Sierra del Carmen is even wilder and more
impressive on the Mexican side of the border.]

Creating A National Park

     Meanwhile, the Park Service had sent a group of scientists into the Big
Bend to explore its features and locate possible wildlife refuges. One of them
was a young geologist who had recently received his Ph.D. from Northwestern
University.  Dr. Ross A. Maxwell had never been west of San Antonio, but the
job in the Big Bend was a good one during the Depression. I did not know what
I was getting into," Maxwell later recalled.  "When I went out to Big Bend and
took a look at it I was ready to throw in the sponge.  I stayed at the CCC
camp because there was nowhere else to stay."  Former Texas Governor Pat Neff,
chairman of the State Parks Board, visited the Big Bend in June 1936."The Big
Bend is the last Texas frontier," he wired the Waco Tribune Herald.  Working
diligently at their tasks, the boys of the CCC camp, said Neff, possessed the
"atmosphere of an academy of science . . . ."  The preliminary work was done,
and the national park moved closer to reality.

     Enthusiasm for the Big Bend park climaxed in 1937.  With so much
publicity directed toward an international park, the State legislature moved
to fulfill the terms of the Federal act.  The lawmakers authorized an
expenditure of $750,000 to purchase privately held land for the national park.
As news of the action was carried in newspapers throughout the State, Walter
Prescott Webb, well-known historian and member of the faculty of the
University of Texas, embarked upon a trip through Santa Elena Canyon, hoping
to call attention to the splendors of the Big Bend.  As author of the famous
book Texas Rangers, Webb was familiar with the trouble Capt. Charles L. Nevill
had in attempting the same trip in 1881.  He was also advised by Hill, who had
made the trip in 1899 and who now, in 1937, was a special writer for the
Dallas Morning News.  The party took several precautions. Guided by
experienced river men, the expedition would be tracked by Coast Guard planes.
They also had special, flat-bottom boats made of steel, instead of the clumsy
wooden crafts that Hill was forced to use.  "Four men in two steel tow boats
required 30 hours to travel the 15 miles of treacherous rapids in the
boulder-choked Rio Grande," announced the Houston Chronicle upon completion of
the trip.  In the tradition of other river men, Webb carved his name and the
date of his float on a prominent rock in the canyon.

     Webb's trip also had another purpose.  He had been commissioned by the
Park Service to prepare a historical handbook that would serve as a visitor's
introduction to the Big Bend.  He rapidly acquainted himself with the existing
historical material, and then he contacted several old friends in the region
to begin preparation for the trip.  In addition to the publicity expected as a
result of the float, Webb wanted to get to know the Big Bend personally so he
could write more knowledgeably.  He also contacted several large newspapers
across the state and made arrangements to sell them feature stories on his
trip.

     Webb, along with thousands of other Texans, undoubtedly was shocked when
Gov. James V. Allred vetoed the measure on grounds that no money had been
appropriated for the land and that the general fund could not stand the
strain.  Both West Texans and the Park Service were upset. "Was very sorry
indeed to read that Governor Allred vetoed the Big Bend Park Bill," wrote
Thomas V. Skaggs, who guided Webb through the canyon.  "To me our young
governor is a funny edition.  If and when he visits west of the Pecks again I
think the residents out there may greet him with the welcome the Comanches
greeted the buffalo, in season."  On December 15, 1937, the Park Service
abandoned the CCC camp, and Maxwell left; there was no place else to stay.
"The whole Big Bend park idea seemed dead," he recalled.  The citizens of
Brewster County had taken the project about as far as they could.

Texas Big Bend Park Association

     But the Big Bend was too good an idea to die.  When the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram carried a vigorous editorial favoring the national park, the
resourceful supporters of the idea saw another opportunity.  The newspaper had
suggested that instead of the State appropriating the money for the land
acquisition, a million people should contribute $1 each.  Herbert Maier, the
Park Service's regional director, endorsed the proposal in a letter to
managing editor James R. Record of the Star-Telegram.  Maier's plea was
supported by James E. Casner of Alpine and Dr. H. W. Morelock, president of
Sul Ross State College, who met with Record.  The result was the establishment
of the Texas Big Bend Park Association, an organization of influential
citizens across the State, with the goal of raising money to buy the land.

     The Executive Committee of the association met in May 1938 in Austin to
discuss ways of raising the money.  Amon G. Carter, publisher of the
Star-Telegram, was elected chairman, and, in a politically wise move, Governor
Allred was named honorary president.  The committee viewed movies of the Big
Bend and adopted guidelines for raising funds and putting out information.
The members of the committee themselves pledged $12,500 and expected to raise
another $12,500 in other cities.  They hoped to raise money from popular
subscription, wealthy persons and foundations, and legislative appropriation.
The Depression, international difficulties, and finally World War II seriously
impaired these plans, however, and the committee soon directed its efforts
primarily toward securing an adequate legislative appropriation.

     Although the main thrust of the committee was to secure State funds,
other possibilities were not overlooked.  A. F. Robinson, an Alpine resident,
donated 320 acres for the park.  The public was invited to join the
association.  Chairman Carter hoped for 30,000 memberships at $1 each, and
before the campaign was launched 53 persons had paid the token dues. The
Star-Telegram successfully urged its readers to contribute to a general fund
that would be turned over to the association for purchase of the needed land.
In September 1942, when the newspaper closed out its effort, $8,346.88 had
been raised from 659 persons, with donations ranging from 5 cents to $100.

     By mid-1941 the committee's efforts were bearing fruit.  An executive
headquarters had been established in Fort Worth.  The State Parks Board had
determined that the land necessary for the establishment of the park would
cost almost $1,400,000, so the committee set its goal as a $1,500,000
appropriation from the legislature.  Newspapers across the State announced
support of the measure.  Dr. Morelock had been given permission by his Board
of Regents to spend as much time as necessary on the development of the park.
He traveled more than 25,000 miles across the State in its support.  H. R.
Smith and J. E. Mowinkle, Texas oilmen, covered the expenses of a color movie
about the Big Bend for service clubs, school groups, and anyone else who was
interested.  Carter himself took a great interest in the park and spent both
time and money in its support.  He issued statements to the press, gave
interviews on radio station WBAP of Fort Worth, and continued to chair the
meetings of the executive committee.  Gov. W. Lee O'Daniel signed the bill
appropriating $1,500,000 for the purchase of the land in July 1941.

Land Acquisition

     Then the first real difficulty with the Big Bend project arose. Under
authority of the State act, the State Parks Board established the Big Bend
Land Department to appraise and purchase the land.  Eugene Thompson was named
administrator of the department and chief appraiser and Townsend associate
administrator.  More than 3,000 persons owned land in the Big Bend, but only
55 of them lived there.  The department's task was complicated by having to
locate other owners throughout the world and because not everyone wanted to
sell.  It was eased somewhat by the fact that over half the land needed was
owned by only 20 people.

     Some delay resulted when Rep. A. H. King of Throckmorton, Tex., filed an
injunction to prohibit the State from spending the $1,500,000, but the State
Supreme Court rejected the suit.  Another possible conflict concerned mineral
rights.  When the legislature passed the original appropriations bill in 1937,
it reserved mineral rights for the permanent school fund because the
representatives feared the loss of a large amount of revenue.  The 1941
appropriation also had the reserve attached, but Townsend fought hard to get
it removed, for he knew that such a clause would be unacceptable to the
National Park Service.

     When Gov. Coke Stevenson ceremonially presented the park to M. R.
Tillotson, regional director of the Park Service on September 5, 1943, he
again called attention to the proposal for an international park, which had
lain dormant during the war years and the frenzy of land acquistion.  The only
thing that had happened since the boundary had been marked in 1937 was that
both the United States and Mexican commissions had been reconstituted. As
chairman of the U.S. commission, Tillotson visited Mexico City 203 in June
1942 to discuss the matter with the new members of the Mexican board.  Little
more was achieved than an expression of interest and a promise to study the
matter.

     In February 1944 Governor Stevenson delivered the deed to Amon G. Carter,
president of the Texas Big Bend Park Association, for formal presentation to
President Roosevelt.  Carter formally gave the document to the President in a
ceremony on July 6, 1944.  Six days later the National Park Service announced
that the Big Bend Park was officially open. Secretary of the Interior Ickes
had already approved Ross A. Maxwell's appointment as superintendent, a
logical choice since the soft-spoken geologist had conducted one of the
initial park service studies of the area.  In taking charge of the park,
Maxwell noted that it included "scientific phenomena and scenic beauty mingled
with historic incidents along the Texas-Mexico frontier that give it a charm
and color that is not known in any other park."  Interpretation in the park
has tended to emphasize the uniqueness of its biological characteristics.  It
contains desert, shrubland, woodland, and grassland.  Scientists soon realized
that it also contained a remarkable number of bird species, making it a
paradise for bird watchers.

The New Park

     Maxwell faced several problems.  The most significant one was the
presence of ranchers whom the Park Service had given permission to remain on
the land until January 15, 1945.  There were about 50 active ranchers in the
park, running about 25,000 head of cattle, 20,000 to 30,000 head of sheep and
goats, and 1,000 to 2,000 head of horses.  The land was badly overgrazed.  Nor
could the people and stock be moved easily.  Since 1944 was a very dry year,
thousands of cattle would have died if the ranchers had been forced to move
their livestock by that winter.  Strays roamed through the park for more than
5 years.

     Whatever maintenance and construction Maxwell did in the park was
accomplished under wartime conditions.  There was no food service, no grocery
store, and tires and gas were rationed.  Maxwell had a dump truck, a pickup,
and a passenger car to conduct the business of the park.  There were only five
employees on the staff, including the superintendent, so "everybody was a
ditch digger or a truck driver."

     Maxwell saw few visitors during the first years of operation, but he
prepared basic facilities in case someone got stranded.  He put some surplus
army cots in the old CCC cottages for emergencies.  The first visitors to the
park usually fell into two categories: those in love with the area, and those
who had not known what to expect and did not want to spend time there once
they found out.  Maxwell encountered a couple from Austin who had come to
enjoy the solitude of the Big Bend.  They had been warned to bring along food,
but had not brought enough.  They had a couple of cans of soup, some sausage,
and other bland items.  After 2 days Maxwell decided he had better check on
them.  He found them completely out of food but unwilling to leave.  Since
they had eaten nothing for 24 hours, he took them to his cottage and fed them
beans and coffee.  Another couple stayed a shorter time.  When they drove into
the basin, Maxwell started walking toward the car to see if he could be of
assistance.  "The man had gotten out of the car and taken two or three deep
breaths of that sweet air, and was looking around just sort of awed by Casa
Grande," Maxwell recalled.  "The wife did not even get out of the car.  She
just shouted his name and told him to get back in the car and get me out of
this place."

     When the time came for dedicating the national park, officials again
brought up the idea of an international park.  The dedication had been
postponed by both World War II and the Korean War.  In May 1954, Dr. Bryan
Wildenthal, Morelock's successor as president of Sul Ross State College, wrote
Carter about plans for the dedication.  Meantime, Park Service officials and
local Big Bend residents had been active, hoping to arouse interest in the
international park in the neighboring Mexican states of Coahuila and
Chihuahua.  M. L. Tillotson had spoken over a Chihuahua City radio station.
Former President Morelock of Sul Ross had contacted many individuals.
Wildenthal thought that the occasion of the dedication would be the ideal time
to renew discussion of the international project.

     But the idea had not suffered from lack of attention over the years.
President Franklin Roosevelt had written Mexican President Manuel Avila
Camacho in October 1944 that he hoped that the project could be reviewed after
the war.  Avila Camacho responded in kind and ordered the Mexican park
department to conduct studies in the region.  After Roosevelt's death,
President Harry S. Truman pursued the idea.  In 1947 an International Park
Commission was established.  Apparently the main Mexican objection to the park
was that they did not have as much government-owned land as Texas did.  Most
of the land on the river was owned by miners, ranchers, and lumbermen who were
loath to sell.  The Mexican Federal Government did not want to act without the
cooperation, or at least the consent, of the local States.  Thus action on
what the Mexican had planned to call Parque Nacional de la Gran Comba was
postponed indefinitely.

     The Big Bend National Park was dedicated on November 21, 1955. Secretary
of the Interior Douglas McKay delivered the main address.  Gov. Allan Shivers
of Texas and Gov. Jesus Lozoya of Chihuahua were present.  Two men who
contributed so much to the drive for a national park had died before the
dedication took place: Everett E. Townsend and Amon G. Carter.

     The Secretary spent much of his time talking about Mission 66, a ten year
program to develop roads, bridges, trails, and other facilities that would
make the national parks more accessible to the public.  Practically all the
development in the Big Bend - the Panther Junction park headquarters, the
tourist facilities in the Chisos Basin, the store and camping grounds at Rio
Grande Village - took place during those 10 years.

     This phase ended when Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson visited the park in April
1966.  Traveling with Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and Mrs. Udall,
National Park Service Director George Hartzog, Jr., 70 members of the White
House staff, the Washington press corps, and dozens of other reporters,
photographers, and film crews, the First Lady brought in one of the largest
entourages ever seen in the Big Bend.

     The numerous travel writers realized the uniqueness of the land. It was a
wonderland for biologists and geologists; they called attention to the
international aspects of its history, and they noted its overwhelming
vastness.  At least twice, for the U.S. Army's experiment with camels during
1859 and 1860 and for astronaut training in 1964, the Big Bend has been used
for its harsh terrain and unforgiving climate.

     The Big Bend, of course, has easily survived the successive waves of
human occupation.  The timeless face of the land emphasizes that fact. The Big
Bend protected the Indians against the encroachment of the Spaniards and the
Anglo-Americans.  It gradually yielded to exploration, but the hostile
environment helped insure the survival of one of the country's most
fascinating regions.  Relics of the historical drama are preserved at Fort
Davis National Historic Site, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Chamizal
National Memorial at El Paso, and Fort Leaton State Park near Presidio, as
well as Big Bend National Park.

     The Big Bend is now a source of inspiration for artists, writers,
photographers, scientists, and vacationers.  The Chisos Mountains continue to
shelter an isolated alpine environment; the desert nourishes hundreds of
different species of cacti; and the Rio Grande erodes away a few more inches
of limestone canyon every year.  Today the sights that only a few 19th-century
travelers saw after heroic efforts are available to nearly everyone.  Hiking
and horse trails lead up into the Chisos along the South Rim or Lost Mine
trails.  Most visitors drive across the desert in air-conditioned comfort to
see the fossil bone exhibit, Dagger Flat, Mariscal Mine, or Wilson's Ranch.
And float trips through Santa Elena, Mariscal, and Boquillas Canyons are
almost a daily occurrence.  E. E. Townsend's lament that most people in the
State were unaware of the Big Bend is no longer true.  It finally is
recognized as one of the great wonders of the Southwest.