Indiana Dunes A Signature of Time and Eternity: The Administrative History of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

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I felt we were in the grip of an almost irreversible force, which would overrun those who loved the dunes and sweep on to Michigan City and beyond. Then we would have a continuous jungle of asphalt and steel, with pollution of air and water, with no place for the millions of pent-up city folk to seek refuge, quiet and renewal. It seemed impossible to stop this movement, but one moonlit evening [in the Indiana Dunes] I made a secret pledge that if I could help to do so I would.

Senator Paul H. Douglas [1]

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Dorothy Buell's Save the Dunes Council

For two decades, the Great Depression and World War II and its aftermath pushed the issue of saving any more duneland into the background. These two momentous events, however, did nothing to halt the progression of industrial and commercial development in the dunes. As a result of Indiana Dunes State Park's enormous popularity, one realty company developed a large tract on the park's east boundary into a resort community called Beverly Shores. (A component of the realtor's promotion was the 1935 acquisition and relocation of six model homes from Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition) as well as other structures modeled after famous American buildings. [2] Pleased by the wide appeal and revenues generated by the Dunes State Park, the State of Indiana did not seek to expand or make any substantial developments to it. Rather, the state began exploring ways to induce more industry into its sliver of lakeshore.

The Indiana political and business communities were encouraged by the growth of Chicago steel industries in the direction of the south shore of Lake Michigan and sought to entice them to jump the Illinois-Indiana border. Built in the 1880s, United States Steel Corporation's South Works was the first and largest of the steel plants on the lakeshore. Soon after three other steel mills located on the Calumet River in Illinois: Acme Steel, Wisconsin Steel Works of International Harvester, and Republic Steel. The old Youngstown Steel and Tube Company mill at the mouth of the Calumet River was already planning to abandon its Illinois facility in favor of a new site at Indiana Harbor (built in 1916) to the west of Gary where Inland Steel Company also had a plant. The largest steel mill complex in Indiana and second largest producer in the nation was none other than U.S. Steel's Gary Works. Within this complex were its subsidiaries, American Bridge Company and Universal Atlas Cement Company, for which U.S. Steel constructed two harbors: Gary Harbor and Buffington Harbor. All of this development was in Indiana's Lake County. With the continuous expanse of steel mills the only prospect for further industrial expansion between Chicago and Gary along Lake Michigan's south shore was to reclaim land from the lake by use of fill. Another option was to expand industrial development into neighboring Porter County. This latter scenario excited Hoosier developers.

As early as 1929, Midwest Steel Company, a subsidiary of National Steel Company, purchased 750 acres in the vicinity of Burns Ditch in Porter County for a future plant. Midwest Steel officials determined that they would not follow U.S. Steel's precedent and build its own harbor. Instead, the company began lobbying for Federal funding. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports in 1931 and 1935 recommended against using tax dollars to build a harbor at Burns Ditch because it would only benefit one company. A similar 1944 Corps study evaluated all Indiana sites, but determined that existing Illinois and Indiana harbors were sufficient. Midwest Steel Company, therefore, shelved its plant construction plans yet again. [3]

Meanwhile, conservation forces, sated by the state park victory, dwindled. Following its 1940 annual meeting, the National Dunes Park Association, purposeless and disillusioned by the seemingly inevitable industrial onslaught, quietly faded away.

While the dunes preservation flame flickered, it did not go out. In 1949, an Ogden Dunes family visited White Sands National Monument. Dorothy Richardson Buell, while moved by White Sands' grandeur, thought her own Indiana Dunes possessed greater qualities. As a young girl, Buell had performed in the Prairie Club-sponsored dunes pageants. Returning home, the Buells stopped for diner in Gary where Dorothy Buell spotted a fateful sign announcing the formation of a citizens group to save the dunes. Led by a University of Chicago professor, the Indiana Dunes Preservation Council (IDPC) identified unspoiled areas and recommended nearly seven miles of lakeshore for preservation. The IDPC garnered few positive developments. In early 1952, during a meeting of the Chicago Conservation Council, Dorothy Buell advised that historical precedent be followed to reignite the dunes preservation movement. Buell recounted Bess Sheehan's struggle and recommended that the effort be heralded by women. After the meeting, Buell decided to follow Sheehan's example and lead the revived movement herself.

On June 20, 1952, twenty-one women congregated in the Buell home and listened to Bess Sheehan relate events of thirty years past. The group discussed an alarming 1949 Corps of Engineers report which advocated a deepwater port for Indiana. While not opposed to the port, the group called for adding nearly five miles of lakeshore to the Dunes State Park. The women announced to journalists they would dedicate their lives to saving the dunes. With that assertion, the Save the Dunes Council was born. [4]

Indiana's opposition to adding more land to the Dunes State Park soon became apparent to the Save the Dunes Council. A united front of the political and business communities sought to maximize economic development along the limited lakeshore. The idea of setting aside more parkland was anathema to the economic planners who were working to secure Federal funds to construct a gigantic "Port of Indiana" at Burns Harbor (or Ditch). Expanding the existing mills and attracting still other steel companies to the area were other top priorities.

Instead of despairing at the overwhelming opposition, the sacred mission of saving the dunes inspired the women to redouble their efforts. The Council's purpose was to preserve the natural environment and recreational potential of the dunes. To attain the goal, the Council launched a nationwide membership and fund-raising drive. One of its first successes was the purchase of Cowles Tamarack Bog, fifty-six acres in Porter County. Sold for delinquent taxes, it is ironic that the difference of the balance—beyond the meager donations—came from Bess Sheehan. Sheehan, the guardian of the National Dunes Park Association's treasury, donated the fund's total of $751.68 to attain the $1,730 purchase price. Thanks to the organization which first formed decades before to save the dunes, Cowles Bog was secure. [5]

Besides expanding its membership, the Council began establishing links with other conservation organizations, cultivating contacts with women's clubs throughout Indiana, meeting with legislators and chambers of commerce, lobbying editorial boards of regional newspapers, encouraging local preservation zoning, and delivering public programs. The Council also organized a "Children's Crusade to Save the Dunes."

Buell looked to historical precedent once again. If Stephen Mather once pushed for a Sand Dunes National Park, what was the attitude of the contemporary National Park Service? Director Conrad L. Wirth and his Region II Director in Omaha,* Howard W. Baker, supported a potential national monument in the Central Dunes as well as a one-mile stretch of 830 acres owned by Inland Steel adjacent to Ogden Dunes. In June 1953, Region II Director Baker participated in "A Day in the Dunes" sponsored by the Save the Dunes Council. Baker spoke in favor of an expanded state park or new national park. [6]

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*In 1937, when the National Park Service's Region II headquarters was established, Indiana fell under the jurisdiction of the Omaha office. When the Region V office opened in 1955, Indiana came under the supervision of the Philadelphia office. See Harold P. Danz, ed., Historical Listing of National Park Service Officials (Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, Department of the Interior, May 1986), p. 20.

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In 1954, Save the Dunes Council established an advisory board composed of scientists Edwin Way Teale and Myron Reuben Strong; Bess Sheehan; artist Frank V. Dudley; writers Donald Culross Peattie and Harriet Cowles; conservationist Richard Pough; and philanthropists Mrs. Charles Walgreen and Mrs. Norton W. Barker. With increasing press coverage, the activities of the Council and its advisory board gained wide notoriety and support.

Buell was reluctant to jeopardize the Council's tax-exempt status by delving into the political arena. She worked hard to keep the effort a largely female movement focused on educating the public. The primary educational issue involved the proposed port. Buell wanted to avoid confrontation and political machinations. Council attorney Leonard Rutstein determined to change this platform by inviting environmentalist and public relations specialist Thomas Dustin to a meeting. Rutstein and Dustin informed the women that they would never win the battle unless the Council broadened its base and worked in political circles. The move worked. Thereafter, men were welcomed as members and a new strategy emerged concerning industrial development: separate the proposed port from the favored site in the Central Dunes at Burns Ditch. The Council argued that Indiana already had two ports at Indiana Harbor and Michigan City, and that those could be expanded. Additionally, they pounded away at whether it was ethical to use tax dollars for the benefit of the two area steel companies. [7]

Soon after taking office in 1953, Indiana Republican Governor George N. Craig announced initial plans to construct a harbor for ocean-going boats between Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres by selling $35 million to $70 million in bonds. While the Indiana Legislature rejected a state financing plan in bonds. While the Indiana Legislature rejected a state financing plan in 1955, it did approve funding to purchase 1,500 acres at Burns Ditch. The state intended to secure Federal funding for the new port and begin development quickly before the opponents had a chance to mobilize. Governor Craig also encouraged private funding for the harbor.

To combat the governor's plan, the Save the Dunes Council launched a one million dollar fund-raising campaign targeted against the proposed mills, grain elevators, chemical plants, and coal shipping facilities which were expected to flock to the new port area. [8] The campaign had barely begun when, in 1957, Bethlehem Steel Company pledged itself to the proposed port at Burns Ditch and began purchasing land in the Central Dunes through its realty agent, the Lake Shore Development Corporation. Land values skyrocketed to almost $3,000 an acre. Allegations abounded in which state and local officials allegedly encouraged the speculation to benefit the port project over the park. [9]

Save the Dunes Council repeatedly solicited the Indiana Congressional Delegation to introduce legislation preserving the lakeshore by incorporating the dunes into the National Park System. A resounding "no" came from the industry-minded solons. It was in this context that the Save the Dunes Council looked outside Indiana for a champion of the dunes, namely Paul H. Douglas, U.S. Senator from neighboring Illinois. [10]

"Indiana's Third Senator" Takes the Dunes Battle to Congress

Approaching Paul H. Douglas to herald the dunes preservation movement in Congress proved to be an excellent move. Although from Illinois, Douglas was no stranger to the Indiana Dunes. Following his 1931 marriage to Emily Taft, daughter of sculptor Lorado Taft, the couple built a summer cottage in the dunes. Summertime and weekends in the dunes with his family left an indelible mark on Douglas' soul. He regarded those times as "one of the happiest periods of our lives":

Like Anateus, I retouched the earth and became stronger thereby. We had rare privacy, with mornings of quiet study and work, afternoons of swimming and walks along the magnificent beach and in the fascinating back country.... What remained was idyllic and an ever-present source of physical and spiritual renewal. I seemed to live again in the simplicities of my boyhood. [11]

Dorothy Buell first approached Douglas to sponsor a bill to authorize an "Indiana Dunes National Park" in the spring of 1957. Douglas, familiar with the negative stance of the Indiana Congressional Delegation, targeted Senator Homer Capehart. Douglas suggested that Capehart could become a hero by leading the dunes effort and thereby have the Federal park bear his name. Intrigued, Capehart told Douglas he first had to consult with the "boys in Indianapolis." The inevitable answer came: the boys "have other plans." Douglas decided he would introduce the legislation himself. Fittingly, he unveiled the bill to establish "Indiana Dunes National Monument" in Dorothy Buell's home on Easter Sunday 1958. He cited the popularity of the Save the Dunes Council as an indication of widespread public support enabling him to go against the wishes of Indiana's political and business community. [12]

Few could have predicted the magnitude of the vehemence unleashed on Senator Douglas. Media, industry, and political organizations combined accusing Douglas with interfering in Indiana's affairs, serving as a Chicago carpetbagger plotting against Indiana's economic development, and working to establish a park to placate the minorities of Chicago. Douglas' opponents derisively referred to him as the "Third Senator from Indiana." [13] Indignant Hoosiers pointed to an underground coalition of Illinois politicians and industrialists who were hiding behind Senator Douglas' "Save the Dunes" movement in order to stop the Port of Indiana. Douglas' nefarious coalition was also believed to be joined by dunes area industry which hoped to keep competitors out. [14]

Nevertheless, Paul Douglas introduced his bill, S. 3898, on May 26, 1958. The stirring speech delivered on the Senate floor was a forerunner of the conservation movement which blossomed in the late 1960s. It provided for an Indiana Dunes National Monument composed of 3,800 acres in the Central Dunes. On the same day, Representative John Saylor of Pennsylvania—the home state of Bethlehem Steel—submitted a companion bill in the House, H.R. 12689. [15]

The Council undertook a nationwide petition drive to support the legislation. They produced a dramatic film depicting the impending industrial peril facing the dunes. Council members developed lobbying skills by visiting all House and Senate members, preparing testimony, and learning the ropes of the legislative process. Their efforts began paying off as the national press corps and conservation groups such as the Izaak Walton League endorsed the movement. [16]

The key players on both sides of the issue realized the battle would be bitter and protracted. It soon became apparent to Douglas and the Save the Dunes Council that formidable political opposition would succeed in bottling the legislation up in the respective Interior and Insular Affairs subcommittees. Close cooperation with the Federal Government's principal preservation agency, the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, was vital in the fight to save the dunes.

The Save the Dunes Council already had an advocate with the Department of the Interior. Earl H. Reed, Jr., a Council member, also served on the Secretary of the Interior's Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments. It was largely through Reed's prodding that the Advisory Board in April 1958 unanimously called for preserving the dunes by incorporation into the National Park System. [17] Simultaneous with the dunes controversy in Congress was the initiation of the National Park Service's Great Lakes Survey which would evaluate the feasibility of Federal park areas on the shores of the Great Lakes, including Indiana's embattled lakeshore.

The Great Lakes Survey

The greatest difficulty dunes conservationists had to address was to justify preserving an urban recreation area in light of the traditional American ideal of a national park. Comparing the model of Yellowstone National Park, reserved from the public domain in a wilderness setting, to Indiana Dunes was difficult for many citizens. United States Government policy since the inception of the republic was to encourage private, capitalist development and settlement of the continent. The 1872 authorization of Yellowstone itself was a milestone in that a significant segment of nature was reserved for the public good. The Yellowstone ideal tended to preclude less spectacular, recreational areas like the Indiana Dunes where population and development pressures threatened to envelop the land. [18]

Although omitted from its scope, the roots of the 1957-58 Great Lakes Survey can be found in the National Park Service's seashore preservation study conducted with Civilian Conservation Corps workers in 1934-35. The study identified potential national and state recreation areas along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. Fifteen possible Park Service areas were targeted with Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, atop the list. Authorization for Cape Hatteras National Seashore came on August 17, 1937, and included seventy miles of seashore and 28,500 acres. Largely owned by the state, the remaining areas North Carolina purchased and donated to the National Park Service.

With the disruption of World War II, no more seashore legislation was successful until interest was revived in the initiative in the 1950s. By this time, few shoreline areas remained unspoiled and an incredible eighty-five percent of shoreline was privately owned. With dwindling shoreline available for public access and recreational purposes, it became clear the Federal Government had to act. Reviving the former 1934-35 study, those remaining potential park areas were re-evaluated. A separate aspect of this project, which was sponsored under the Park Service's MISSION 66 program, included the Great Lakes. Funded by entrepeneurs Paul Mellon and sister Alisa Bruce, the Great Lakes Survey began under the direction of Director Conrad L. Wirth. [19] Wirth called on Allen T. Edmunds to organize the effort. Edmunds relocated from the Washington Office to the Region V Office in Philadelphia to evaluate the remaining shoreline opportunities of the Great Lakes. Director Wirth cautioned Edmunds not to be overly optimistic. The effort to include Cape Hatteras in the National Park System had taken fifteen years. Wirth advised Edmunds not to get discouraged if nothing came out of the Great Lakes Survey. [20]

Survey activities took place in the summers of 1957 and 1958 to determine what segments of remaining shoreline qualified for preservation as natural, scenic, or recreation areas. Sixty-six units were identified. Five were targeted for potential inclusion in the National Park System: Pigeon Point (Minnesota), Huron Mountains and Pictured Rocks (both in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan), Sleeping Bear Dunes (lower Michigan), and Indiana Dunes (Indiana). The report cited the industrial and residential expansion in northwest Indiana. Outside of the Dunes State Park, five-and-a-half-miles of undeveloped lakeshore remained, but the area was targeted for expansion by three steel companies and the proposed deep-water harbor. The survey recommended that the Indiana Dunes merited further evaluation. Compilation and editing of the report delayed publication and distribution until early 1960. The preface of Our Fourth Shore: Great Lakes Shoreline Recreation Area Survey contained a message from Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton. Reflecting the conservative position of the Eisenhower administration, Secretary Seaton stated the primary objective of the shoreline surveys was to help state and local governments identify new park areas. He instructed the Park Service to recommend no more than three areas as National Shoreline Recreation Areas. The three units, Seaton stated, would be selected from all of the candidates nominated from the Great Lakes, Pacific, Gulf, and Atlantic shorelines. [21]

In response to an inquiry from Senator Paul Douglas, the Park Service's Region V Office in Philadelphia dispatched a team in September 1958 to evaluate an area of undeveloped duneland west and south of Ogden Dunes. The team identified an additional 850 acres [22] which Douglas incorporated into a new 1959 bill, S. 1001. Park Service comments to the Department on S. 1001 were favorable, but there were a few amendments suggested. Park Service officials believed the designation of "National Seashore" was more appropriate than "National Monument." The Service also questioned the excluded areas around Dune Acres, Ogden Dunes, and Johnson Beach, preferring to consider all available land in order to have an area of sufficient size to accommodate heavy use. While the towns themselves should be excluded, the Service wanted unspoiled Johnson Beach to fall within the acquisition area. [23]

With the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, the dunes controversy intensified. Hoosier politicians and businessmen were eager to exploit the economic prosperity promised by the linking of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean shipping lanes. The Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments reaffirmed that the Indiana Dunes should be incorporated into the National Park System. Senate hearings in May 1959, saw Douglas and a large group of supporters pleading in vain for swift action on the dunes park bill. An equal number of opponents, from Indiana's Governor to the President of Midwest Steel Corporation, testified against the proposed park. Even as Douglas spoke, an increasing number of power-shovels were decimating the Central Dunes. The same spring, Midwest Steel dusted off its thirty-year-old construction documents and began building a finishing plant on 750 acres at Burns Ditch. Simultaneously, Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) began clearing a 350-acre parcel to build a coal-fired generating plant west of Dune Acres. Douglas accused the industrialists of denuding as much duneland as possible in an effort to make the preservation argument moot. [24]

Despite the acrimony, Senate committee members expressed the desire for compromise, to find a way to accommodate both sides. They wanted to devise a formula whereby the Indiana Dunes could have a port and a park.