THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 35, Number 25 Thursday, June 27, 2019 The Beauty of Nature bbyy WWilliamilliam HHalliaralliar “The mission of Indiana State Parks is to conserve, manage and interpret our resources, while creating memorable experiences for everyone.” The beach at Indiana Dunes State Park. Much of the talk among visitors to our lakeshore The creation of the state park in Chesterton is a is of the new national park and all it has to offer. lesson in “balance, compromise and good working Perhaps an equally important story, one with an relationships between state and local governments, even longer history that for so many years impacted industry and private interests — an example of how life in Northwest Indiana, is Indiana Dunes State life should work,” says Serena Ard, Westchester Park. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became Township History Museum curator. She is recog- a reality in 1966, gaining national park status last nized as the local authority on the history of our year. Our state park has been welcoming visitors state park, and the Prairie Club of Chicago, which since it opened in 1925. Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 June 27, 2019 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 %HDFKHU&RPSDQ\'LUHFWRU\ e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] 'RQDQG7RP0RQWJRPHU\ 2ZQHUV email: Classifieds - [email protected] $QGUHZ7DOODFNVRQ (GLWRU http://www.thebeacher.com/ 'UHZ:KLWH 3ULQW6DOHVPDQ PRINTE ITH Published and Printed by -DQHW%DLQHV ,QVLGH6DOHV&XVWRPHU6HUYLFH T %HFN\:LUHEDXJK 7\SHVHWWHU'HVLJQHU T A S A THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS 5DQG\.D\VHU 3UHVVPDQ 'RUD.D\VHU %LQGHU\ Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is 0LNH%RUDZVNL+RSH&RVWHOOR&KHU\O-RSSHN 3URGXFWLRQ also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. -RKQ%DLQHV.DUHQ*HKU&KULV.D\VHU'HQQLV0D\EHUU\ 'HOLYHU\ vide fi ll for a growing Chicago metropolitan area, as The Beauty of Nature Continued from Page 1 well as raw material for a burgeoning glass-making greatly infl uenced the preservation of the dunes. industry in central Indiana. By 1920, the Hoosier The story of our state parks is tied to the history Slide was completely obliterated. While some were of Indiana itself and the growth of Chicago. pleased to have this source of continually blowing As Indiana prepared to celebrate its centennial sand removed, others were concerned, especially in 1916, Col. Richard Lieber, an Indianapolis busi- those who loved the dunes and wilds, arguing some- nessman who emigrated from Germany, suggested thing should be done to preserve them. to the centennial committee a state park system At about the same time, Henry Chandler Cowles, be created. The proposal was accepted, and thus a University of Chicago botany professor, began to state parks became Indiana’s centennial gift to fu- explore the wilds of Northwest Indiana. In 1899, he ture generations of Hoosiers. It was a gift from far- wrote his doctoral thesis on “Vegetation Succession seeing planners who loved nature and knew a close on the Lake Michigan Sand Dunes,” bringing world- connection to the land would rejuvenate Indiana’s wide attention to the ecology of our region and earn- people over the years. ing himself the title of “father of ecology.” Hiking trails within the park often veer through dazzling forests. McCormick’s Creek became Indiana’s fi rst offi cial In 1901, the Chicago and Indiana Air Line Rail- state park. Located in Owen County, it opened to way, today known as the South Shore, began be- the public on July 4, 1916. The fi rst U.S. state park tween East Chicago and Indiana Harbor. It was was Niagara Falls, dedicated in 1885. reorganized as the Chicago Lake Shore and South But in truth, the effort to save the Indiana Dunes Bend Railway in 1904, and the route was extended began before the state centennial. According to Ard, to South Bend through Michigan City in 1908. several factors combined in the late 1800s-early In those early days, the roads were ruts, dust and 1900s that led to the preservation of our wonderful mud. Automobiles were few, but it was an easy trip sand dunes. on a comfortable rail car from the hustle and bustle About 1890, sand mining became a major indus- of Chicago to the sand dunes of Northwest Indiana. try in the region. Many know of Hoosier Slide, the Cowles brought students from his classes to the area’s highest dune. It was loaded onto railroad cars dunes via rail to study plant and animal life. by workers with shovels and wheel barrows to pro- Alice Gray (“Diana of the Dunes”), who had been THE June 27, 2019 Page 3 Striking formations are visible along trails. living and working in Chicago, stepped off an east- bound train in October 1915 and disappeared into the dunes to become a legend in local lore. In 1908, the Prairie Club, a nonprofi t, Chicago- based volunteer organization, began to organize hikes in the Indiana Dunes for city dwellers who wanted to escape the noise and pollution of their urban habitat for a walk in the woods along a quiet lakeshore. In 1922, the group purchased land in the dunes area, building a lodge and cabins where members could spend summer days away from the city. They established a Wild Flower Club and a Conservation Committee. In 1905, U.S. Steel purchased land on the lake- shore and began leveling sand dunes to create its fi rst Midwestern operation, what would become the world’s largest steel mill. The city of Gary was founded in 1906, named after Elbert Gary, a found- ing chairman of the corporation, to offer housing and infrastructure for mill workers. What before 1900 was a quiet sandy wasteland, not useful for farming or much of anything else, not was seen by industrialists as prime real estate with rich resources such as sand, wood and water. It can be imagined that when Indiana was fi rst envi- sioned and an extra 10 miles of lakeshore wrangled from Michigan Territory in 1816 — see The Beacher dated Oct. 15, 2015 — the founders envisioned lake Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 June 27, 2019 After the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, The Beauty of Nature Continued from Page 3 life started returning to normal, and the indus- access for commerce and industry rather than rec- try that had been booming along Lake Michigan’s reation. Who in 1816 even knew what conservation, shores during the war continued to push into the ecology or recreation was? dunes, level hills and fi ll valleys, threatening to Many who loved the wilderness and wild beau- swallow all of Northwest Indiana’s natural habitats. The Prairie Club renewed its call for a nature ty of the dunes country disagreed, ever more con- preserve along our lakeshore, looking to state gov- cerned about the encroachment of heavy industry ernment to provide the leadership. In 1923, the In- into their beloved sand hills. diana State Council approved the creation of Dunes In 1872, the U.S. Congress created Yellowstone State Park, but set no money aside for land acquisi- National Park, managed by the U.S. secretary of the tion. After much lobbying and fundraising by those interior. On Aug. 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wil- who valued the duneland area, funds were acquired son signed the act creating a National Park Service. to begin purchasing lands for the park. Soon thereafter in 1916, the Prairie Club of Chicago Prairie Club members sold their camp lands and established “national dunes park association,” lob- lodge to the state park with the understanding that bying the Federal government for protection of the they could continue to use the land for their events Indiana Dunes under what was called the “Organic and hikes until 1932. A fountain, designed by Jens Act,” which was set up to regulate and protect areas Jenson, a prominent Chicago landscape architect, known as National Parks. was presented as a parting gift by the club to the Stephan Mather, the fi rst director of the Na- newly formed park. In 1933, the Civilian Conserva- tional Park Service, organized meetings in Chicago tion Corps, a voluntary work-relief program much to spur interest in saving of the dunes as a nature like the Works Progress Administration, created preserve. Although some industrialists opposed the trails, built the entrance gates and made many im- proposition, many prominent people spoke in favor provements to the park. of the project, including “Diana of the Dunes” her- Indiana Dunes State Park was the fourth to be self, who came out of seclusion to speak at a Prairie established in the state, opening in 1925. It covers Club meeting. 2,182 acres of dunes and forest land. The park is A groundswell of support was being raised. Then, surrounded by America’s newest national park and in April 1917, the United States entered World War has an area of nearly 15,000 acres. Surrounding I and all energy and resources were put to winning both of these parks is the industry and commerce of the struggle in Europe. The movement to preserve Northwest Indiana — the innovation and manufac- the Indiana Dunes was all but forgotten. turing heart of the state. Stephen Mather (far left), the National Park Service’s fi rst director, leads a tour of park advocates through the dunes in 1916.