Great Sand Dunes National Park

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, mining and homesteading were very real threats to the existence of the Great Sand Dunes. Residents from Alamosa to Monte Vista and as far away as Pueblo recognized the value of tourism to the dunes. As early as 1926, the Alamosa Chamber of Commerce had erected markers to direct tourists to the dunes. However, preservation of the dunes was necessary if tourists were to continue coming to the area. On June 30, 1930, Elizabeth Spencer presented a program on preserving the dunes to her PEO chapter in Monte Vista. The group formed a committee to lobby the Colorado Legislature to protect the dunes. In turn, the legislature petitioned the Colorado congressional delegation to seek protection of the dunes as a national monument.

Recognizing the growing movement to preserve the Great Sand Dunes, the federal government withdrew the dunes and the surrounding area from homesteading in 1930. The National Park Service assigned Roger Toll, its chief investigator of proposed national parks and monuments, to examine the Great Sand Dunes. Toll was also the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and a member of the Colorado Mountain Club. Departing his winter office in Denver on February 12, 1931, Toll traveled to Alamosa by train and proceeded to inspect the Great Sand Dunes on February 13 and 14, 1931. His subsequent report to National Park Service director Horace Albright recommended that the Great Sand Dunes be preserved as a national monument. The recommendation made its way to Pres. Herbert Hoover, who signed the proclamation creating the Great Sand Dunes National Monument on March 17, 1932.

The 1930s were the era of the Great Depression, and little could be done immediately to protect the dunes or develop facilities for tourists. Late in the decade, workers from the federal economic recovery programs of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) were used to construct rudimentary facilities, such as picnic tables, fire pits, and outhouses in Great Sand Dunes. With construction of the superintendent’s headquarters and home in 1939, infrastructural development finally began in the new national monument.

ROAD TO THE DUNES, 1929. This Louis Wilhelm photograph shows the primitive two-track road to the dunes in 1929. Even though the Alamosa Chamber of Commerce posted directional signs to the dunes in 1926, automobile travel was still quite difficult on the primitive roads. (GRSA-2219.)

ROAD TO THE DUNES, 1964. Park naturalist Warren Hill took this photograph in 1964 to contrast it with Wilhelm’s 1929 photograph (above). After 35 years, the only noticeable change is the road improvement. (GRSA-5614.)

ROAD TO THE DUNES, 1934. Park naturalist P.R. Franke’s photograph shows the road to the dunes. Inspector Roger Toll traveled this road in February 1931 and in his report noted that “cars may be driven to within a quarter or half mile of the southeastern edge of the dune area.” (GRSA.)

ROGER W. TOLL, C. 1930. Park inspector Toll holds a hopefully “tame” bobcat. Toll was superintendent of Yellowstone National Park from 1929 to 1936. He inspected Great Sand Dunes in 1931, favorably recommending it for national monument status. He died in a car crash in 1936 as he was returning from an inspection of Big Bend in Texas. (National Park Service.)

JEAN CORLETT, PEO, C. 1930. Jean Corlett was a member of the Monte Vista Chapter V PEO committee, which was formed to campaign for the designation of Great Sand Dunes as a national monument in order to save and protect it for future generations. (GRSA.)

GEORGE CORLETT, C. 1930. The husband of Jean, George was a Monte Vista attorney and former Colorado lieutenant governor. He donated his time to the PEO committee to help draft a petition to the Colorado Legislature in support of Great Sand Dunes as a national monument. (GRSA.)

MYRTLE WOODS, PEO, C. 1930. Myrtle was also on the Monte Vista PEO committee promoting Great Sand Dunes as a national monument. PEO is a philanthropic educational organization that raises funds for scholarships to help young women attend college. (GRSA.)

PEO LETTER TO COLORADO SENATOR PHIPPS. Having gained the support of the Colorado Legislature, the PEO committee carried on their campaign to the US Senate. Success came in 1932, when Pres. Herbert Hoover proclaimed the creation of Great Sand Dunes National Monument. (GRSA.)

EARLY OFFICIALS ON THE DUNES. Unfortunately, Great Sand Dunes has no record of the date of this photograph or the identities of these men. It was probably not Roger Toll’s inspection party, which consisted only of Toll and Forest Service ranger Paul Gilbert Sr. Toll and Gilbert drove a car and then walked onto the dunes. (GRSA.)

EARLY DUNES VISITORS. These early visitors to the Great Sand Dunes struggled through the sand of the dry Medano Creek bed to head toward the dunes. (GRSA.)

ROADS TO THE DUNES, 1934. By 1934, graded gravel roads reached nearly to Great Sand Dunes. This view looks north on State Highway 156 (today’s Highway 150) to its junction with the road from Mosca, State Highway 150 (today’s County Lane 6). The Mosca road was opened in 1930. (GRSA.)

“SKIING” ON THE DUNES, SEPTEMBER 1930. As part of a promotional film of the state, the Colorado Association filmed men skiing on the Great Sand Dunes. They reported that “the skis slid well on the sand for considerable distances, often attaining speeds almost as fast as on similar slopes of snow.” These still photographs from the film were included in Roger Toll’s report. (GRSA.)

SAND DUNES EXCURSION. Even before creation of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in 1932, groups of people were visiting the dunes. Pictured about 1930, this Moffat School picnic group clambered up the dunes to dizzying heights. (GRSA-745.)

LINGER FAMILY PICNIC. The Linger family (owners of the Medano Ranch) enjoyed an evening cookout at Great Sand Dunes in 1935. Adults enjoyed Colorado’s favorite Coors beer, especially after Prohibition ended in 1933. (GRSA.)

SUPERINTENDENT’S HOME AND PARK HEADQUARTERS, 1946. Designed by Santa Fe architect Kenneth Saunders, construction of this building began in 1939. The Walsenburg World Independent reported that “the building is to be made of adobe and the architecture will be the Spanish ranch house type so common in the San Luis Valley.” (GRSA-2204).

PARK HEADQUARTERS AND CHECK STATION, 1946. The Colorado Historical Society noted that the superintendent’s complex “was the largest project undertaken by the Works Progress Administration during its late 1930s work at Great Sand Dunes.” Before this, first park employee Glen King was stationed north of the Zapata Ranch to count cars entering the new national monument. (GRSA-2205.)

SUPT. TED SOWERS AT HEADQUARTERS, 1949. From 1932 to 1946, Great Sand Dunes National Monument was administered by the superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park. Great Sand Dunes finally received its own superintendent with the appointment of Ted Sowers in 1946. Sowers served until 1950. (GRSA-2172.)

COURTYARD OF PARK SUPERINTENDENT’S HOME, 1946. The home is to the right, separated by a courtyard from the administrative check station on the left. The home was used as the superintendent’s residence until 1988, when it was converted to park administration offices. (GRSA-2203.)

PORCH DETAIL OF SUPERINTENDENT’S HOME, 1946. The home was built in the Spanish-territorial style using adobe. The windows look west to the Great Sand Dunes with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rising behind the building. (GRSA-2202.)

REAR VIEW OF SUPERINTENDENT’S HOME, 1944. This view of the rear of the home shows the huge expanse of the Great Sand Dunes. (GRSA-2201.)

DIRT ROAD TO THE DUNES, C. 1940S. A rather primitive road led to the dunes parking lot in the 1940s; it was not paved until 1959. To this day, this spot serves as the access point for hikers to cross Medano Creek and begin climbing the dunes. (GRSA-2292.)

DUNES PARKING LOT, C. 1940S. In this image, a single car can be seen in the parking lot next to Medano Creek and the dunes. Facilities built here in 1938 by the WPA and CCC included picnic tables, fire pits, and toilets. Paved and expanded today, the parking lot can now hold hundreds of vehicles. (GRSA-2168.)

THE ARMY COMES TO THE DUNES, C. 1940S. The US Army used the Great Sand Dunes as a training area for troops being sent to the desert of North Africa during World War II. Bob Linger at the Medano Ranch recalled huge convoys coming west over La Veta Pass to the dunes, and from the ranch “[they] could see this huge dust cloud” created by all the trucks on the dirt roads. (GRSA.)

WIND-WHIPPED DUNES, AUGUST 31, 1944. In this photograph by Natt Dodge, the dunes appear to be whipped like meringue on top of a pie. Cleveland Peak is seen at the left. (GRSA-2290.)

SHRINERS TENT ON THE DUNES, AUGUST 1947. The Pueblo Chieftain newspaper reported, “The Great Sand Dunes will be interwoven with the romantic and historical background of the Shriners of North America when Al Kaly Shrine temple uses the unique setting for a big ceremonial August 15 and 16.” (MVHS.)

SHRINERS HEAD BACK FROM THE DUNES, AUGUST 1947. The Pueblo Chieftain continued their story, reporting, “A caravan of trucks will transport from Al Kaly temple in Pueblo to the Great Sand Dunes two large tents and all of the lavish costumes, trappings and equipment for the ceremonial, which will be for Shriners only.”

CASTLE CREEK AREA, 1951. Supt. Glen Bean, second superintendent of Great Sand Dunes from 1950 to 1953, took this photograph near where Castle Creek enters Medano Creek. Note the vehicle in the Medano Creek bed. Driving off-road is strictly prohibited today. (GRSA-2244.)

GHOST FOREST OF DEAD PONDEROSA PINES, 1951. Superintendent Bean also took this photograph of “escape dunes,” where sand has escaped the main dunefield, blowing east of Medano Creek and smothering the ponderosa pine forest. Water in Medano Creek generally helps prevent even larger areas of escape dunes from forming. (GRSA-2257.)

DRY MEDANO CREEK BED, NOVEMBER 1955. In this photograph by Natt Dodge, two visitors walk the rippled sand in the creek bed, gazing north to the dunes and a snowcapped Cleveland Peak. (GRSA-2286.)

DRY MEDANO CREEK BED, NOVEMBER 1955. As winter sets in, the park sees few visitors, as witnessed in this image (also by Natt Dodge). Up to 1955, Great Sand Dunes National Monument had fairly primitive facilities for visitors, but that situation began to change dramatically in 1956. (GRSA-2280.)