Big Bend Administrative History

¹ "Report of the Big Bend Area, Texas," U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, State Park ECW, District III, January 1935, RG 79, NPS SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments, and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 3, Folder: 207 Reports (General), Folder 2; Ross A. Maxwell, In Collaboration with the Hon. E.E. Townsend and Frank D. Quinn, "Summary of Events That Led to the Establishment of the Big Bend National Park," n.d. 1949 (?), RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments, and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 2, Folder: 101 NPS History, DEN NARA.

² Maier to Wirth, January 18, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN, NARA.

³ Maier to Dean Dan T. Gray, Fayetteville, AR, January 24, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

⁴ Maier to Nason, January 29, 1935; Nason to Maier, February 2, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

⁵ Dr. H.C. Bumpus, Chairman, NPS Education Advisory Board, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM, to Wirth, January 26, 1935; A.F. Ahrens, District Inspector, ECW, Alpine, TX, to Maier, January 24, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

⁶ Ahrens to Maier, January 24, 1935.

⁷ Maier to Nason, n.d. (January 1935?); Nason to Maier, January 30, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

⁸ James V. Allred, Attorney General of Texas, Austin, to D.E. Colp, Chairman, Texas State Parks Board, Austin, November 19, 1934, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

⁹ Douglas C. Lauderdale, Jr., Regional Attorney, NPS, Austin, to Maier, February 9, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title-Higgins, DEN NARA.

¹⁰ Maier to Nason, February 18, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

¹¹ Maier to Nason, February 22, 1935; Nason to Maier, February 26, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: DSP 1, DEN NARA.

¹² "A Bill To provide for the establishment of the Big Bend National Park, in the State of Texas, and for other purposes," H.R. 6373, 74th Congress, 1st session, March 4, 1935; Joseph L. Arnold, The Evolution of the 1936 Flood Control Act (Fort Belvoir, VA: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Office of History, 1988), 16.

¹³ Maxwell, "Summary of Events that Led to the Establishment of the Big Bend National Park;" Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, to The President, The White House, Washington, DC, February 27, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 1, Folder: 0-30 (NPS) Big Bend International Park, DEN NARA.

¹⁴ Maier to Wirth, March 15, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

¹⁵ Townsend to Maier, March 22, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

¹⁶ Townsend to Colp, March 30, 1935; Townsend to Maier, March 31, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

¹⁷ James O. Stevenson, NPS Regional Wildlife Technician, Oklahoma City, to Maier, April 4, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: N/A, DEN NARA; Sellars, Preserving Nature in the National Parks, 119.

¹⁸ Stevenson to Maier, April 4, 1935.

¹⁹ Maier to State Park ECW, NPS, Washington, DC, June 8, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: General April 1, 1936-July 30, 1936, DEN NARA.

²⁰ H.P.K. Agersborg, Ph.D., NPS Chief Biologist, "Report on Certain State Parks and Other Areas in Texas," June 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 20, Folder: 720.03 Preserves, DEN NARA.

²¹ Public Law No. 157 - 74th Congress (S.2131), "An Act To provide for the establishment of the Big Bend National Park in the State of Texas, and for other purposes," June 20, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 22, Folder: 833 Exhibits; Townsend to Maier, June 13, 14, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

²² J.T. Haile, Procurement Office, NPS State Park Division, Austin, to Seventh Regional Office, ECW, Oklahoma City, July 8, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: N/A, DEN NARA.

²³ Maier to L.W. Rogers, Educational Adviser, Eighth Corps Area Headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, TX, July 19, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: N/A, DEN NARA.

²⁴ Memorandum of Raymond Higgins, Assistant Regional Projects Manager, NPS State Park Division, Oklahoma City, to Maier, "Present Status of Land Titles in Big Bend Area, Texas," July 24, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA. For a discussion of land policies of the early years of the United States, see Malcolm J. Rohrbough, The Land Office Business: The Settlement and Administration of American Public Lands, 1789-1837 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1968), and Paul Wallace Gates, History of Public Land Law Development (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968).

²⁵ Memorandum of Higgins to Maier, July 24, 1935.

²⁶ Ibid.

²⁷ W.G. Carnes, Deputy Chief Architect, Branch of Plans and Design, Western Division, NPS, San Francisco, "Report on Proposed Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas, Trip: August 4 to 8 incl., 1935," August 16, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: N/A, DEN NARA.

²⁸ Ibid.

²⁹ Ibid.

³⁰ Ibid.

³¹ Ibid.

³² Ibid.

³³ "National Park Service Committee Makes Tour Of Big Bend Park Area," Alpine Avalanche, August 16, 1935.

³⁴ Stevenson to Maier, August 17, 1935, 720-04 Wildlife Survey Big Bend File, RG 79, NPS, CCF 1933-1949 Big Bend 719 - 833-05 Files, Box 836, DC NARA II.

³⁵ Ibid.

³⁶ Bernard F. Manbey, Associate Engineer, NPS Western Division, Branch of Engineering, San Francisco, "Proposed Big Bend National Park Report on Suggested Boundary, Engineering Requirements and General Notes," August 19, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, General Correspondence Files 1927-1953, Box 15, Folder: 0-32 (NPS) Proposed Parks General R.O., DEN NARA.

³⁷ Ibid.

³⁸ Maynard S. Johnson, Regional Wildlife Technician, NPS First Region, "Preliminary Report Wildlife Survey of Big Bend National Park (proposed) Texas," n.d. (October 1935?), RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 20, Folder: 720.04 Wildlife Survey, DEN NARA.

³⁹ Ibid.

⁴⁰ Ibid.

⁴¹ Ibid.

⁴² Ibid.

⁴³ Ibid.

⁴⁴ Ibid.

⁴⁵ Ibid.

⁴⁶ Ibid.

⁴⁷ Ibid.

⁴⁸ Ibid.

⁴⁹ Ibid.

⁵⁰ Ibid.

⁵¹ Ibid.

⁵² W.B. McDougall, Wildlife Technician, State Park Division, NPS, "Preliminary Report on A Plant Ecological Survey of the Big Bend Area, Texas," November 30, 1935, RG 79, NPS CCF 1933-1949 BIBE 207 Files, Box 825, DC NARA II.

⁵³ Ibid.

⁵⁴ Ibid.

⁵⁵ L.T. Barrow, Chief Geologist, Humble Oil and Refining Company, Houston, TX, to Carroll H. Wegemann, Dallas, TX, September 19, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: Big Bend Correspondence (Folder 1), DEN NARA.

⁵⁶ Wegemann to Earl A. Trager, Chief, Naturalist Division, NPS, Washington, DC, September 25, 1935; Maier to Wirth, October 10, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: Big Bend Correspondence (Folder 1), DEN NARA.

⁵⁷ Nason to J.T. Roberts, Regional Inspector, ECW, Alpine, TX, September 26, 1935; Maier to Nason, October 14, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: Big Bend Correspondence (Folder 1), DEN NARA.

⁵⁸ Maier to Wirth, October 30, 1935; J. Evetts Haley, Department of History, University of Texas, Austin, to William R. Hogan, NPS, Oklahoma City, December 2, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 20, Folder: 720.03 Preserves, DEN NARA; Jefferson C. Dykes, "James Evetts Haley," in Howard R. Lamar, ed., The Reader's Encyclopedia of the American West (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1977), 481.

⁵⁹ Paul Russell, Wildlife Technician, Seventh Region, NPS, "Preliminary Range Survey of Big Bend Area Texas With Relation to a Proposed Longhorn Ranch," December 6, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 20, Folder: 720.03 Preserves, DEN NARA.

⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁶¹ Ibid.

⁶² Memorandum of Raymond Higgins to Maier, "Trip to Austin and Alpine, Texas, regarding Big Bend National Park," November 20, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

⁶³ Ibid.

⁶⁴ Ibid.

⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁶⁶ Ibid.

⁶⁷ (Supplemental) Memorandum Report of Higgins to Maier, November 21, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to CCC, ECW, and ERA Work in National Parks, Forests and Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1933-1934, Box 95, Folder: Land Title File-Higgins, DEN NARA.

⁶⁸ Ibid.

⁶⁹ Bernary F. Manbey, Chief, Surveys and Plans, NPS, Washington, DC, to Townsend, November 26, 1935; Townsend to Manbey, November 19, 1935; A.W. Burney, Assistant Chief Engineer, NPS, Washington, DC, to Maier, October 14, 1935; R.D. Morgan, Superintendent, SP-33-T, Marathon, TX, October 26, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 1, Folder: 000 General Big Bend, DEN NARA.

⁷⁰ Carnes to Mr. (Thomas) Vint, November 27, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 1, Folder: 000 General Big Bend, DEN NARA; Townsend to Maier, November 29, 1935, RG 79, NPS, SWRO, Santa Fe, Correspondence Relating to National Parks, Monuments, and Recreational Areas, 1927-1953, Box 94, Folder: 4th Progress Report on Big Bend - Region III, DEN NARA.