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National Park Service History Electronic Library & Archive
The NPS History Electronic
Library & Archive is a portal to electronic publications covering the history of
the National Park Service (NPS) and the cultural and natural history of the national
parks, monuments, and historic sites of the (U.S.) National Park System. Also included
are documents for national monuments managed by other federal agencies, along with a
collection of U.S. Forest Service publications.
The information contained in this Website is historical in scope and is
not meant as an aid for travel planning; please refer to the official
NATIONAL
PARK SERVICE Website for current/additional information. While we are not affiliated
with the National Park Service, we gratefully acknowledge the contributions
by park employees and advocates, which has enabled us to create this free
digital repository.
New eLibrary Additions
Featured Publications
 cover only Preserving the DesertA History of Joshua Tree National Park(Lary M. Dilsaver, 2016) |
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Congaree Swamp: Greatest Unprotected Forest on the Continent (South Carolina Environmental Coalition, Sierra Club and Congaree Swamp National Preserve Association, c1975)
Continuity and Change: A Photographic History of the Drakesbad Guest Ranch (HTML edition) (Tandy Bozeman, 2003, rev. 2017)
Confinement in the Land of Enchantment (Sarah R. Payne, ed., 2017)
Rhymes of a National Park Naturalist and other selected verses (Natt N. Dodge, 1971)
Excavations at Green Spring Plantation (Louis R. Caywood, May 25, 1955)
Final General Management Plan Amendment and Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement: Green Spring, Colonial National Historical Park (March 2003)
Nez Perce National Historical Park: Additions Study (1990)
Nez Perce Cradleboards (2005)
Draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Nez Pere National Historical Park and Big Hole National Battlefield Draft (October 1996)
Visitor's Guide to El Camino Real National Scenic Byway in New Mexico (Beth Keyohara, undated)
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro: Volume Two New Mexico BLM Cultural Resources Series No. 13 (Gabrielle G. Palmer and Stephen L. Fosberg, comp., June-el Piper, ed., 1999)
An Analysis of the Human Skeletal Remains from the Massee Rockshelter, Isle Royale National Park (Norman J. Sauer, )
Historic Structures Report: Hot Springs National Park (Cromwell, Neyland, Truemper, Millett & Gatchell, Inc., November 1973)
Testimony Taken Before the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department, relative to Certain things connected with Government property at Hot Springs, Ark. Mis. Doc. No. 58 (House of Representatives, 48th Congress, st Session, June 17, 1884)
Historic Structures Report: Armco-Ferro House (HS-06), Indiana Dunes National Park (2005)
Historic Structures Report: Cypress Log Cabin (HS-8) & Guest House (HS-9), Indiana Dunes National Park (2001)
Historic Structures Report: House of Tomorrow (HS-07), Indiana Dunes National Park (2001)
Historic Structures Report: Wieboldt-Rostone House (HS-4), Indiana Dunes National Park (2001)
Historic Structures Report: Quartermaster's Complex and Outbuildings — Volume 1, Fort Scott National Historic Site (March 9, 2021)
Historic Structures Report: Visitor Center, 1938 Residence, 1958 Residence & Maintenance Shop, Scotts Bluff National Monument (June 2017)
River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2010 (Matthew C. Godfrey and Theodore Catton, July 2011)
Historic Resource Study: Events and Celebrations on the National Mall and President's Park South (Patricia Kuhn Babin, S. Michael Mitchell and Valerie Hague Reiss, November 2024)
Cultural Landscape Report for Salem Maritime National Historic Site (John W. Hammond, Margie Coffin Brown, Ashley M. Braquet and Alexandria von Bieberstein, 2017)
Cultural Landscape Report for Five Forks Battlefield, Petersburg National Battlefield (Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., Liz Sargent and Historical Research Associates, Inc., March 2024)
Cultural Landscape Report for Gaines' Mill Battlefield, Richmond National Battlefield Park (Brenden Bowman, John W. Hammond, Robert Krick, Tim Layton, Kelsey Little and Eliot Foulds 2024)
A History of Richmond National Battlefield Park (John T. Willett, 1957)
Historic Landscape Assessment for Eastern Mill Yard, Boott Cotton Mill No. 6, Lowell National Historical Park (March 1995)
Applied Archaeology in Four National Parks Occasional Papers in Applied Archaeology No. 1 (June Evans, James Mueller, Doulas C. Comer, James D. Sorensen, Karen Orrence, Paula A. Zitzler and Louanna Lackey, December 1987)
An Isolated Storage Vessel at Site 42SA20779 in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: Adaptive Storage and Caching Behavior in the Prehistoric Southwest Midwest Archeological Center Occasional Studies Series No. 25 (Anne M. Wolley and Alan J. Osborn, 1991)
The Dan Canyon Burial, 42SA21339, A PIII Burial in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Midwest Archeological Center Occasional Studies Series No. 26 (Steve Dominguez, Karl J. Reinhard, Kari L. Sandness, Cherie A. Edwards and Dennis Danielson, 1992)
Glacier National Park: America's Most Colorful Mountain Playground (Great Northern Railway, c1953)
The Current: Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network (Fall/Winter 2024)
Glacier Bay Oceanographic Monitoring Program Analysis of Observations, 1993-2016 (Seth L. Danielson, December 2024)
Lichen-Air Quality Pilot Study for Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the City of Skagway, Alaska (C.E. Furbish, Linda Geiser and Claudia Rector, December 2000)
Trace organic contaminants in U.S. national park surface waters: Prevalence and ecological context (Sarah M. Elliott, Kerensa A. King, Aliesha L. Krall and David D. VanderMeulen, extract from Environmental Pollution, Vol. 362, September 21, 2024)
Glacier Monitoring in Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, 2022-2024 (Michael G. Loso, December 2024)
Wetland Habitat Use by Elk and Bison in Great Sand Dunes National Park (Linda C. Zeigenfuss, E. William Schweiger and Kirk Sherrill, 2024)
Status and Trends of Landbird Populations in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network 2024 NPS Science Report NPS/SR-2024/228 (Taylor Schmidt, Samuel Roberts, Elizabeth Tymkiw and Greg Shriver, December 2024)
Annual Report: 2024, Bandelier National Monument (2023)
The Upper Missouri Fur Trade: Its Methods of Operation (Ray H. Mattison, reprinted from Nebraska History, Volume 42, Number 1, March, 1961; ©Nebraska State Historical Society)
Yosemite Nature Notes: 1937 — October
Yosemite Nature Notes: 1954 — February • July • November
Yosemite Nature Notes: 1958 — February
Yosemite Nature Notes: 1959 — January • February • March • April • September • October
Foundation Document Overview, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park (November 2015)
Foundation Document Overview, Amache National Historic Site, Colorado (January 2024)
Foundation Document Overview, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Alabama (October 2018)
Foundation Document Overview, Buffalo National River, Arkansas (October 2018)
Foundation Document Overview, Castle Clinton National Monument, New York (September 2018)
Resumen del documento fundacional, Monumento commemorativo nacional Chamizal, Texas (January 2016)
Foundation Document Overview, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, Washington (November 2018)
Foundation Document Overview, First State National Historical Park, Delaware and Pennsylvania (November 2022)
Foundation Document Overview, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine (August 2016)
Foundation Document Overview, Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, Mississippi (undated)
Foundation Document Overview, Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument, Kentucky (September 2021)
Foundation Document Overview: Parker's Crossroads Battlefield, Tennessee (undated)
Foundation Document Overview: Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, California, Oregon, Washington (April 2022)
Foundation Document Overview, Saratoga National Historical Park, New York (undated)
Ruins Stabilization in the Southwestern United States Publications in Archeology No. 10 (Roland Von S. Richert and R. Gordon Vivian, comp., 1974)
The Steamboat Bertrand: History, Excavation, and Architecture Publications in Archeology No. 11 (Jerome E. Petsche, 1974)
The Betrand Bottles: A Study of 19th-Century Glass and Ceramic Containers Publications in Archeology No. 12 (Ronald R. Switzer, 1974)
Investigations in Russell Cave, Russell Cave National Monument, Alabama Publications in Archeology No. 13 (John W. Griffin et al., 1974)
Casemates and Cannonballs. Archeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix National Monument Publications in Archeology No. 14 (Lee Hanson and Dick Ping Hsu, 1975)
Woodland Complexes In Northeastern Iowa Publications in Archeology No. 15 (Wilfred D. Logan, 1976)
Norvelt and Penn-Craft, Pennsylvania: Subsistence-Homestead Communities of the 1930s Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record America's Industrial Heritage Project (Alison K. Hoagland and Margaret M. Mulrooney, 1991)
Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record America's Industrial Heritage Project (Nancy S. Shedd, 1991)
The Character of a Steel Mill City: Four Historic Neighborhoods of Johnstown, Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record America's Industrial Heritage Project (Kim E. Wallace, ed., 1989)
Railroad City: Four Historic Neighborhoods in Altoona, Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record America's Industrial Heritage Project (Kim E. Wallace, Kathy Edwards, Susan Garfinkel, Alison K. Hoagland, Nancy L. Smith and Nancy Spiegel, 1990)
Special Study: Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata and Western Divisions (David Fritz and A. Berle Clemensen, August 1992)
Historic Resource Study: Cambria Iron Company (Sharon A. Brown, September 1989)
A Volcano Rekindled: the Renewed Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 2004-2006 U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1750 (David R. Sherrod, William E. Scott and Peter H. Stauffer, eds., 2008)
The Sleeping Child Burn—21 Years of Postfire Change U.S. Forest Research Paper INT—330 (L. Jack Lyon, July 1984)
The Distribution of Forest Trees in California U.S. Forest Research Paper PSW—82/1972 (James R. Griffin and William B. Critchfield, 1972, reprinted w/supplement 1976)
California Forests: Trends, Problems, and Opportunities U.S. Forest Research Bulletin PNW—89 (Charles L. Bolsinger, August 1980)
Operation of Glen Canyon Dam Final Environmental Impact Statement: Summary (March 1995)
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report: Vol. II (Bureau of Indian Affairs, July 2024)
NPS Reflections
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(Harpers Ferry Center)
Joshua Tree’s Aircraft Warning Stations
Jeff Ohlfs
Commemorations of the 70th Anniversary of World War II have started.
One of the ways Joshua Tree National Park contributed to that fight was
the placement of two aircraft warning stations within its boundaries.
It began on November 28, 1942 when San Bernardino National Forest
Supervisor DeWitt Nelson requested, on behalf of the United States Army
Fourth Fighter Command, to build "three" portable aircraft warning
stations (only two were determined ultimately to be needed). [1]
The Fourth Fighter Command, locally located at March Field (currently
the Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley), was activated on July 8, 1941
and assigned to the Fourth Air Force. It provided air defense for the
west coast until disbanded on March 31, 1944. [2] Working through the
Aircraft Warning Service, a "network of posts thru which enemy planes
cannot pass without detection" [3] was being established. Each station was
to "be of a temporary and portable nature in that the living quarters
will be in a trailer house with a portable latrine and water tower." [4]
All stations were connected by a relay radio communication system and
the stations in the Monument were connected to the Santa Rosa Peak
Station. Both stations were staffed by two observers working 12 hour
shifts with water being hauled from Twentynine Palms. [5]
Armband Aircraft Warning Service [6]
On December 1, 1942, Acting Superintendent Walter G. Attwell granted
temporary permission "for these temporary installations according to the
following requirements: 1) the installations should be located so they
will be as inconspicuous as possible, thus eliminating the desire of
campers to occupy the adjacent area in lieu of the designated camp
sites, 2) no green vegetation shall be cut, 3) the maintenance of
sanitation (pit toilets) shall comply with the instructions of the
Superintendent, and 4) all refuse shall be buried." [7]
With Acting Regional Director Herbert Maier concurring on December 9,
1942, [8] Special Use Permit No. 1 (1943) was issued to San Bernardino
National Forest to build the stations and signed by Acting
Superintendent Duane Jacobs on January 27, 1943. The permit for the
stations was valid "for the duration of the present war and for six
months thereafter." [9]
The Split Rock Station (now referred to as Crown Prince Lookout) was
activated on February 28, 1943. [10] The station was designed by the Forest
Service similar to their fire lookout towers to be 10 feet square
primarily composed of windows and cedar shingle roof. The living
quarters (an Army house trailer) were 50 feet below the station accessed
by a wooden stairway. [11] The water tank had a 250 gallon capacity and sat
on eight-foot stilts. And, a twenty foot pole to support a radio
antenna. The station was built by forest employee Carl Peterson and a
four person crew from Del Rosa. [12] It remained on the peak for eighteen
years until burned by vandals in 1961. [13]
Split Rock Station [14]
The Pinto Basin Station, which was built second, was completed in
March 1943 [15] and established adjacent to Old Dale Road somewhere between
mile 2.2 and mile 8.7 (Township 3 South, Range 12 East). I believe I
found its location 5.5 miles from Old Dale Junction. There is almost no
written information on this station.
General "Hap" Arnold ordered the cessation of the Aircraft Warning
Stations effective October 16, 1943. This was "not based upon any belief
that the war’s end is yet in sight" but to an assumption of a low "risk
of enemy air attack" and released the observers for "other important
wartime responsibilities." [17] The Pinto Basin Station was closed on
October 20, 1943 with the Split Rock station remaining unstaffed in the
event of an emergency. [18]
All that remains today of the Split Rock Station is some concrete
foundations. The only evidence of the Pinto Basin Station is the
suspected latrine frame. I found no reference in The Desert Trail to the
park’s Aircraft Warning Stations. Although there were weekly listings of
who was on duty at the station in Twentynine Palms.
Split Rock Station foundations [16]
Endnotes
1 DeWitt Nelson, San Bernardino National Forest
Supervisor, San Bernardino, California, to Joshua Tree National Monument
Superintendent, letter, 28 November 1942, Aircraft Warning Stations;
Joshua Tree National Monument War Emergency File 201, General Records of
the National Park Service, Record Group 79; National Archives and
Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
2 Maurer Maurer, editor, Air Force Combat Units of
World War II ([Washington, DC]: Office of Air Force History, 1983),
442.
3 Nelson to Superintendent, 28 November 1942,
National Archives and Records Administration.
4 Ibid.
5 Duane Jacobs, Acting Superintendent Joshua Tree
National Monument, Twentynine Palms, California, to Regional Director,
memorandum, 16 January 1943, Aircraft Warning Stations; Joshua Tree
National Monument War Emergency File 201, General Records of the
National Park Service, Record Group 79; National Archives and Records
Administration, College Park, Maryland.
6 Mary Irene Ohlfs Aircraft Warning Service Armband,
digital image, 15 January 2012; privately held by Jeff Ohlfs, Twentynine
Palms, California. 2012.
7 Walter Attwell, Joshua Tree National Monument
Acting Superintendent, Twentynine Palms, California, to DeWitt Nelson,
San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor, letter, 1 December 1942,
Aircraft Warning Stations; Joshua Tree National Monument War Emergency
File 201, General Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79;
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park,
Maryland.
8 Herbert Maier, Acting Regional Director, San
Francisco, California, to Acting Superintendent Joshua Tree National
Monument Superintendent Attwell, memorandum, 9 December 1942, Aircraft
Warning Stations; Joshua Tree National Monument War Emergency File 201,
General Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79; National
Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
9 Joshua Tree National Monument Special Use Permit
No. 1, 27 January 1943; Joshua Tree National Monument War Emergency File
201, General Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79;
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park,
Maryland.
10 Duane D. Jacobs, Memorandum for the Director,
typescript, 1 March 1943; vertical files; Joshua Tree National Park
Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
11 Jacobs to Regional Director, 16 January 1943,
National Archives and Records Administration.
12 Carl O. Peterson, "Looking Back Twenty Years"
(typescript, 10 July 1965, Joshua Tree National Park Archives,
Twentynine Palms, California), p 2.
13 Ibid, p 1.
14 "Split Rock Station", JOTR No. 20575, digital
image, nd; historic photo collection; Joshua Tree National Park
Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
15 Duane Jacobs, Acting Superintendent Joshua Tree
National Monument, Twentynine Palms, California, Custodian’s Monthly
Report for March 1943, Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine
Palms, California.
16 Split Rock Station foundations, digital image, 21
October 1993; privately held by Jeff Ohlfs, Twentynine Palms,
California. 2012.
17 "Volunteer Civilian Aircraft Warning Service
Eliminated," The Desert Trail (Twentynine Palms, California), 8 October
1943, p. 2, col. 1.
18 Duane D. Jacobs, Custodian’s Monthly Report for
Joshua Tree National Monument, typescript, October 1943; vertical files;
Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
19 Pinto Basin Station latrine foundations, digital
image, 01 February 2012; privately held by Jeff Ohlfs, Twentynine Palms,
California. 2012.
Suspected latrine foundations of the Pinto Basin Station [19]
Source List
[Anonymous]. "History of the Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, Aircraft Warning Service, IV Fighter Command,
Volume I, 1August 1940 to 31 March 1944" File Code A4171. n.d.
California, Twentynine Palms. The Desert Trail. 1943
Central Classified Files, 1907-1949 (Entry 10).
General Records of the National Park Service, Record Group 79. National
Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
Cole, James E. "Custodian’s Annual Report for Joshua
Tree National Monument". Typescript. 7 July 1944. Vertical Files. Joshua
Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Greene, Linda W. Historic Resource Study: A History
of Land Use in Joshua Tree National Monument. Denver: National Park
Service, 1983.
Jacobs, Duane D. "Custodian’s Annual Report for
Joshua Tree National Monument". Typescript. 30 June 1943. Vertical
Files. Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Jacobs, Duane D. "Custodian’s Monthly Report for
Joshua Tree National Monument". Typescript. March 1943. Vertical Files.
Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Jacobs, Duane D. "Custodian’s Monthly Report for
Joshua Tree National Monument". Typescript. October 1943. Vertical
Files. Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Jacobs, Duane D. "Memorandum for the Director".
Typescript. 2 January 1943. Vertical Files. Joshua Tree National Park
Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Jacobs, Duane D. "Memorandum for the Director".
Typescript. 1 March 1943. Vertical Files. Joshua Tree National Park
Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Maurer, Maurer, Editor. Air Force Combat Units of
World War II. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1983.
Ohlfs, Mary Irene. Aircraft Warning Service Armband.
Digital image. 15 January 2012. Privately held by Jeff Ohlfs,
Twentynine Palms, California. 2012.
Peterson, Carl O. "Looking Back Twenty Years".
Typescript. 10 July 1965. Vertical Files. Joshua Tree National Park
Archives, Twentynine Palms, California.
Pinto Basin Station Latrine Foundations. Digital
image. 01 February 2012. Privately held by Jeff Ohlfs, Twentynine Palms,
California. 2012.
"Split Rock Station." Digital image. nd. Historic
Photo Collection. Joshua Tree National Park Archives, Twentynine Palms,
California.
Split Rock Station Foundations. Digital image. 21
October 1993. Privately held by Jeff Ohlfs, Twentynine Palms,
California. 2012.
Text written by Jeff Ohlfs, February 12, 2012.
Jeff Ohlfs is a former
Chief Ranger (retired) at Joshua Tree National Park. His mother served
as an aircraft warning observer during World War II, in Oxnard,
California.
Joshua Trees and Clouds (NPS/Carey Goldstein photo)
At the start of World War II, airplanes were largely short range
weapons, fighting each other rather than targets on the ground. The
development of the bomber changed everything. To not detract from more
pressing military duties, civilian-run Aircraft Warning Stations were
erected. At coastal sites around the country, some NPS exmployees took
over aircraft obersvation duties on regular shifts. Civilians learned to
listen and visually spot aircraft and to distinguish between them.
Sightings were logged and reported to military personnel.
Aircraft Warning Stations were erected at Acadia National Park and
the Statue of Liberty on the Atlantic and Denali, Mt. Rainier, Lassen,
Yosemite, Channel Islands, and Joshua Tree National Parks on the Pacific
Coast. Olympic National Park hosted multiple AWSs — the Coast Guard
used Ruby Beach Resort, Becker’s Ocean Resort, Rialto Beach Resort and
Lake Ozette Resort and the US Army used Washburn Resort. Mora Park
housed employees engaged in war work. At Kill Devil Hill in Wright
Brothers National Memorial, the military installed an ‘ultra high
frequency monitoring system' at the top of the monument presumably to
monitor and locate enemy submarines patrolling the shipping lanes off
shore.
NPS Website: National Parks Defend America's Coast During World War II.
Sunset Joshua Tree, Cap Rock (NPS/Robb Hannawacker)
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