Page:Michael Welsh - Dunes and Dreams, A History of White Sands National Monument (1995).pdf/82

 70 Mescalero stopped making many of their old artifacts as soon as they were placed on a reservation." Then the NPS wanted an aerial photograph of the dunes that showed Indian ruins and fire rings. The Colorado Air National Guard, which flew training missions in the Tularosa basin, agreed to take such a picture for the museum if the park service reimbursed the squadron for expenses.

Ranger Faris, as he had done with the suggestion of a woman museum attendant, also demonstrated vision with his ideas for the murals. He did not share Tom Charles' views on Cabeza de Vaca, nor the sentiments of Texans about Billy the Kid. "Our area being a playground," said Faris, the monument "naturally attracts many children." He belived that "we certainly cannot make that type [outlaw] a hero in the eyes of our younger generation." Compounding the problem were plans by the private, Santa Fe-based School of American Research to rebuild the old court house in Lincoln, "scene of the famous Kid escape" during the Lincoln County Wars. "To more than mention [Billy the Kid] in our museum," Faris concluded, "might lay us open for criticism and future antagonism from the School of Research."

In place of Vaca, Billy, or some other male historical figure, Faris offered instead an idea so novel that NPS officials wrote their superiors in Casa Grande and Santa Fe for advice. In early March, Faris accompanied Dale King and Aubrey Neasham on a tour of White Sands to envision an acceptable theme for the museum murals. The park ranger informed Pinkley: "White Sands in its very peculiar way presents an angle of having visitors probably without parallel in our entire Service." In order to highlight the dunes' distinctiveness, Faris urged the NPS to "give deep and earnest consideration to capitalizing … on the child angle." Too often the park service spoke only to adults with sophisticated exhibit, interpretation, and education programs about science, history, and culture. Focusing on youthful impressions of the dunes would "present a new line of thought in our education program for which the Park Service is so well known." Faris then wondered: "I cannot but shudder in the realization of how much I might have done had I talked more to the youngster and less to the adult."

To emphasize his point about breaking free of NPS stereotypes of visitation, Faris, the father of a three-year old son (James), noted the inordinate popularity of the animated feature films of Walt Disney, and how important to children were his "characterizations of even inanimate objects." Citing the recent Disney release, (1937), Faris saw "no reason why we as an education unit could not present outstanding features … that might become equally as famous as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pop Eye, etc." The murals at White Sands could depict "struggles of plants for mere existance [sic]," and "even the rains, evaporation,