May 7, 1956: Multiflora Roses Planted At Dunes State Park

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on May 7, 1956.

Multiflora Roses Planted At Dunes State Park

RICHARD ALLISON, VHS shop teacher (upper right), directed multiflora roses planting Saturday at Dunes State Park to prevent erosion on sandy slopes. The first shift planted about a thousand of them when the rains came. Edward Weisse, of Chesterton, assistant principal of Evans school, Hobart, was in charge of the group camp which included 110 pupils of the sixth to eighth grades at Evans school.

March 6, 1976: Park Establishment Preserves Natural Laboratory Dunes National lakeshore Stems From Work of Decade

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on March 6, 1976.

Park Establishment Preserves Natural Laboratory

Dunes National lakeshore Stems From Work of Decade

By J.R. WHITEHOUSE

National Lakeshore Supt.

IN 1916, Steven Tyng Mather, the first director of the newly created National Park Service, recommended the establishment of a national park on the south shore of Lake Michigan in the area known as Indiana Dunes. The region is an unusual complex of exceptional sand dunes, marshes, bogs and sand beaches.

In geologic times, melting glacial ice created a huge lake, whose waters lapped against the shore, creating a prominent ridge, known as the Calumet Beach ridge. This natural feature is evident just north of U.S. 12 from Michigan City to Gary, in the form of the oldest dunes in the region. As the water of prehistoric Lake Michigan receded, waves and winds created new dunes. Between these dunes and the ridge, an alluvial plain developed into marshes and bogs. Finally, as Lake Michigan came into being in its present form, wind action created foredunes that rise to heights of 200 feet.

Dr. H.C. Cowles and other biologists of 50 to 70 years ago developed theories of succession and plant distribution based on observations in this area. Their theories, propounded before the term “ecology” became a household word, are today’s natural laws for the science of ecology. These circumstances, alone, have made the Indiana Dunes internationally famous. The themes and evidences of plant succession will provide an outstanding interpretive opportunity for National Lakeshore naturalists and visitors of the future.

JOSEPH BAILLY, a French Canadian, was the first settler in northwestern Indiana. He built a trading post along the Little Calumet River in 1822. Although somewhat altered, some of the structures still remain. The homestead is located within the Lakeshore region and offers outstanding potential for historic interpretation to visitors.

It was not until 1923 that Indiana Dunes State Park, encompassing 2,200 acres of dunes and marshland and three miles of beach, was established.

The National Park Service, during its Great Lakes Shoreline Recreation Area Survey in 1957-58, identified the Indiana dunes as possessing exceptional value. The Advisory Board on National Park Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments supported this proposal in 1958 and in subsequent meetings in 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1965.

Located adjacent to Gary and Michigan City and only 35 miles from Chicago, the lakeshore presents a rare opportunity to improve the environment of millions of crowded city dwellers and to insure the enjoyment of this unusual area for future generations.

ABOUT SEVEN MILLION people today live within a 50-mile radius of the Indiana Dunes. It is predicted that the population living within a 100-mile radius will reach 12 million within 15 years.

With the 1905 beginning of the Gary industrial developments, the area was plunged deep in a struggle between recreational, residential and industrial interests. Location, terrain and resources were favorable for all, but space was insufficient to supply the maximum needs of many. Before any federal action could be taken, World War I intervened and two communities, Ogden Dunes and Dune Acres, became solidly established in the heart of the region.

Sen. Paul H. Douglas of Illinois, on May 3, 1961, introduced to the 87th Congress a bill “to provide for the preservation of the Indiana Dunes and related areas.” On Oct. 21, 1963, Sen. Henry M. Jackson introduced a similar bill on behalf of himself and Sens. Douglas, Clinton P. Anderson, Vance Harke, Birch E. Bayh and others.

At the beginning of the 89th Congress, bills were introduced by Congressman Roush of Indiana and on Jan. 9 Sen. Jackson introduced Senate Bill 360 which was passed by the Senate on June 21, 1965. The resulting Public law 89-761 of Nov. 5, 1966, provided for the establishment of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. This act authorized the appropriation of $27,900,000 for the acquisition of land and property. It provided that homeowners could, under certain conditions, retain use of their property for up to 25 years. The National lakeshore consists of approximately 6,000 acres, which, combined with the State park, provides a recreational facility of 8,200 acres.

THE PURPOSE of the act was “to preserve for the educational, inspirational, and recreational use of the public certain portions of the Indiana Dunes and other areas of scenic scientific and historic interest and recreational value.”

A Citizens Advisory Commission was established to offer advice or recommendations for the Secretary of Interior on matters relating to the Lakeshore. The Secretary of Interior was authorized to formally establish the National Lakeshore whenever, in his opinion, sufficient acreage was acquired to be efficiently administrable.

On Sept. 17, 1972, Secretary of Interior Rogers C. B. Morton officially established Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in a ceremony at the lakefront attended by Mrs. Julie Nixon Eisenhower, the Indiana Congressional delegation, and members of many citizen groups, including Save the Dunes Council, which had worked diligently over many years for that objective.

The National Park Service, in carrying out its mandate for the management of this area, has purchased and removed more than 300 structures from the Lakeshore area. Many more residences have been purchased and are being occupied by the former owners under the “reservation in use” provision of the act.

A SMALL BUT DEDICATED staff is engaged in providing environmental education and interpretive programs for visitors from an improvised Visitor Center in a former church building located at Kemil Road and U.S. 12. Temporary parking facilities have been constructed in three locations to provide visitor access to the beach. Horseback and hiking trails have been constructed. Park Rangers provide protection for the visitors and the fragile natural resources.

Intensive long-range planning is underway to assure that future developments are consistent with the intent of the legislation and appropriate for the needs of visitors now and in future generations.

Extensive research is being conducted both by NPS and scientists from local universities to assure that sufficient information is available for adequate management and protection for the area’s fragile natural resources.

Visitation has increased from 8,000 in 1969 to more than 86,000 in 1975. Total annual visitation is expected to exceed 1,000,000 before 1980.

LEGISLATION was passed in 1974 to add $7.6 million to complete the land acquisition program. Additional legislation, to add approximately 4,000 acres to the Lakeshore, is still before Congress.

Construction is underway on a beach house, access roads, trails and picnic areas at West Beach. The exterior of historic Bailly homestead is being restored and new facilities are being planned for the Mt. Baldy dune area.

The Visitor Center at Kemil Road and U.S. 12 has been remodeled, providing more audio-visual facilities; and the former Nike missile base on Mineral Springs Road has been rehabilitated to provide housing this summer for 40 members of the Youth Conservation Corps. Plans also call for an administration building and an environmental education building in that area.

March 6, 1976: Indiana Port History Exemplifies Clash Conservation-Industry Forces Engage In Tug-Of-War Over Use Of Dunal Area

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on March 6, 1976.

Indiana Port History Exemplifies Clash

Conservation-Industry Forces Engage In Tug-Of-War Over Use Of Dunal Area

By MARTIN ZIMMERMAN

PORTER COUNTY’S 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline has long been a battleground for the traditional struggle between environmental and industrial interests. By being blessed both with the beautiful and valuable duneland and an ideal location for heavy industrial development, the county has often found itself cursed with the dilemma of having one or the other, but not both.

Perhaps no other chapter in the colorful history of the dune-covered shoreline better illustrates this dilemma than the 150-year battle to establish a deep-water port in the area. First envisioned early in the 19th century, the port and its proponents suffered through 100 years of government inertia until, with progress finally being made, conservationists marshaled their forces and put up such bitter opposition that it appeared for a while that the century-and-a-half old dream would never become a reality.

The story of what was eventually to become the Burns Waterway Harbor began even before Indiana was admitted to the Union in 1816. In 1805, what is now Porter County’s northern boundary was purchased from the state of Michigan by the territorial government so Indiana would have an outlet to the Great Lakes. The first white settler in the area, French trapper Joseph Bailly, recognized the potential of Indiana’s lake Michigan shoreline and as early as 1822 he made plans for establishing a port at the mouth of the Grand Calumet River.

Although nothing ever came of Bailly’s dream, in 1832 Congress sent Sen. Daniel Webster to northern Indiana to inspect prospective sites for a major Great lake port. Webster was in favor of City Westーlocated near present day Tremontーas the site for the port, but Michigan City and Chicagoー then a town of under 300ーreceived the approval and the appropriations for harbor development. By-passed by Congress, City West lost its reason for existence and soon died out, and Porter County would wait more than a century for another chance at a port.

FOR THE NEXT 50 years, northern Indiana sat idly by as Chicago boomed. Without sufficient port facilities, Porter County could not persuade industry to settle within its boundaries. When Standard Oil and United States Steel finally opened plants in Lake County early in the 20th Century, they built private ports for their own use rather than fight for a public harbor.

In 1906, however, dreams of an Indiana port were revived when Randall Burns, a leading farmer and landowner in the area, proposed the digging of a channel to drain the marshy land around Gary. because of legal entanglements, the waterway was not completed until 1926, but it was a milestone in the history of the future port. Lawrence Preston of Indiana University, in his book on the harbor, said, “It gave the future harbor the name ‘Burns’ ...and made the project appear more plausible by delineating the locale for its fulfillment.”

In 1928, supporters of the port received a shot in the arm when the National Steel Corporation purchased 750 acres of duneland for eventual construction of a complete steel mill. National’s proposal to build a port at the mouth of Burns Ditch was found unacceptable, however, as it was thought the mills would make the port inaccessible to the general public.

In 1935, harbor proponents were brought together by the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce to form the Northern Industrial Development Association (NIDA), which consisted of members from Porter, LaPorte and Lake counties. Later the same year, U.S. Rep. Charles A. Halleck pushed a resolution through the House committee on Rivers and Harbors authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to hold a hearing on a possible harbor. The hearing brought together many Indiana officials and concerned citizens, including Gov. Paul McNutt, but the harbor proposal was turned down on the grounds of insufficient public benefit. An appeal to the decision was also turned down, this time with a recommendation from the federal government that a site other than the Burns Ditch location under consideration be tried.

HALLECK TRIED AGAIN in 1937 by sponsoring a bill to authorize the Secretary of War to survey the northern Indiana area for possible harbor sites. The Corps of Engineers made the survey in 1938, but returned an unfavorable report, citing the lack of definite need and economic justification as their reasons.

Stymied on the federal level, the NIDA next turned to the state legislature, where a bill was passed in 1938 creating the Indiana Board of Public Harbors and Terminals. The same legislation also provided for a token appropriation for harbor development to show the Corps of Engineers that Indiana was indeed serious in its desire for a port. In 1940, however, a state of national emergency was declared and the engineers shelved all civil works until after the war.

During the war little progress was made in the campaign for a port, although the harbor board did initiate studies to collect data on the feasibility of a Lake Michigan outlet. The collected data was utilized in 1948 when Gov. Ralph Gates arranged a meeting between the board and the Indiana Economic Council to study the potential value of a port.

In July, 1949, a public meeting was held in Gary at which the harbor board set forth a nine-point argument in favor of a port. For the first time, however, conservationists who saw the port as a threat to the dunes surfaced as a very vocal opposition force. Despite criticism from the dune-lovers, a favorable report was issued and the Corps of Engineers was asked to perform yet another survey of proposed port sites. The Korean War interrupted, however, and in desperation Gov. George Craig asked the state to pay for its own survey. The state assembly did not appropriate the necessary funds and again the port was put on the shelf.

IN LATE 1955 and early 1956, two more economic feasibility studies were made and both returned favorable reports. Also included in one report was an estimate of the cost for building the port, which at this time was projected to be $18 million.

As 1956 progressed, however, it became clear that Indiana’s hopes for a port were heavily reliant on whether National Steel would build a steel mill near the site. Otherwise, the Corps of Engineers would not approve the project as economically feasible. National refused to make any sort of commitment, but in August, Bethlehem Steel Corporation bought several thousand acres of land near the National holdings and announced plans not only to build a mill but also to make part of the acreage available for a public harbor.

Further impetus was received the same year when both houses of Congress authorized theor Public Works committees to study all Great Lakes harbors in preparation for the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The chief engineer of the Army agreed to combine the study of the Burns Waterway Harbor originally proposed in 1951 with the larger study, and this interim report resulted four years later in the first official approval of a deep-water port in the waterway area.

Meanwhile, in January, 1957, Indiana appropriated $2 million for land purchase for the harbor, and Gov. Harold Handley continued to push the steel companies for a definite commitment. At the same time, another economic feasibility study was performed by Joseph Hartley of Indiana University which would take into account the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Hartley Report, completed in mid-1959, pointed out in great detail the possib;e benefits of a port to the state and estimated the cost of such a port at $36 million.

WHEN THE HARTLEY report was made public, Gov. Handley also announced a new site for the port between the holdings of National and Bethlehem. The state also received a definite commitment from National to build a steel mill at the site, a decision which prompted the district Army engineer to finally approve the port and to reaffirm the economic benefits of such a venture. Shortly thereafter, the division engineer also approved the project.

With the approval of the Corps of Engineers, harbor proponents began to feel that success was near. But as the 1960s dawned, it became obvious that the real fight was just beginning. Rallying behind the leadership of Illinois Sen. Paul Douglas, the Save the Dunes Council began agitating to have the site of the port shifted away from the dunes area, and succeeded in having the favorable report channelled back to the district engineer.

To escape opposition from the dunelovers, the Indiana Port Commission, formed in 1961, recommended that the state build the port itself, thereby bypassing the federal government, where the dunes council had planned to fight the port. In an attempt to bring the two sides together, Indiana Sen. Vance Hartke introduced legislation that provided for both a port and a national park in Porter County. Douglas, however, introduced a bill which called for a park only, and action on the two bills soon became impossible.

Bogged down again on the federal level, the Indiana Port Commission took the initiative and began to buy land for the port. At the same time, Bethlehem announced plans for a complete mill near the harbor site, which became important in 1963 when the Chief of Army Engineers recommended that the port not be approved unless the adjacent areas were industrialized. The Bureau of the Budget studied the recommendation and Bethlehem’s commitment and then gave its approval for the port. Sens. Birch Bayh and Hartke introduced a bill for federal participation in the building of the port, but it was not passed in 1963 or 1964.

IN 1965, after lengthy debate, the U.S. House and Senate both passed bills authorizing the harbor, but differences in the bills had to be reconciled before they could be signed into law. The Senate bill contained a proviso that stated no money could be spent on the harbor until a national lakeshore was established to protect the surrounding dune areas. The House version merely provided that steps be taken to insure that the dunes were not harmed by the port. A compromise was worked out in October which provided only that a vote be taken on the national park proposal, thereby making federal appropriations for the harbors no longer contingent upon passage of the park bill.

With this roadblock removed, the port bill was quickly passed by Congress, thereby conferring official authorization on the Burns Harbor project. In May, 1966, the Army Corps of Engineers gave the final confirmation of federal support for the harbor, and ground was broken in October of that year.

On Sept. 11, 1969, a Bethlehem ore boar discharged its load of iron ore at the steel company’s dock and thereby became the first vessel to use the port. After a century and a half of frustration, disappointment and perseverance, Indiana’s dream of a water outlet to the trade of the world was a reality.

Feb. 5, 1966: Trails Said Port Threat

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on February 5, 1966.

Trails Said Port Threat

‘DOUGLAS WALL’ーCartoonist offers conception of how non-contiguous areas crisscrossed with trails in southern fringe of proposed Lakeshore acreage will bottle development of harbor and industry. Harbor opponents see this as maneuver by Illinois Sen. Paul Douglas to whittle down economic development in Indiana, thereby aiding Illinois industry, hence name ‘Douglas Wall’.

One of the major bones of contention between proponents of the Indiana harbor, now under construction in North Porter county, and supporters of the proposed Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, soon to be the subject of a House hearing in Washington, is the so-called non-contiguous areas.

The average person, when referring to the lakeshore, often thinks about the land and the sand stretching immediately south of the shore of Lake Michigan, but gives little thought to those marshy areas on the southern fringe of the 11,000-acre parcel.

In S. 360 ー the bill which seeks to establish the lakeshore ー the non-contiguous areas are referred to as “hinterland”.

Supporters of the harbor see in these fringe properties a sharp lever by seaport foes to reduce Indiana’s harbor from a first rate to a third rate facility, because they feel it will strangle their economic development.

For this maneuver ー as well as the many other delaying tactics that have been hurled at the seaport ー they blame Illinois Sen. Paul Douglas. Hence they refer to this southern zone as the “Douglas Wall”.

S. 360 does not clearly define the intent of those “hinterlands” other than that they obviously are to be used to preserve the flora and fauna and for the establishment of trails.

Harbor enthusiasts see in this area only one of the cloudy phases of S. 360. However, some light is believed shed on the federal government’s intent for this area by a portion of this testimony at the Feb. 8, 1965 Senate Subcommittee hearing in Washington.

The report on that hearing includes pertinent testimony offered by George B. Hartzog, Jr., director of the National Park Service. His answer followed a question asked by Sen. Alan Bible, of Nevada, chairman of the subcommittee which held the hearing.

Asked Sen. Bible:

“The problems, I think, that have concerned the committee about these so-called non-contiguous areas: No. 1, the distance from the lake, and No. 2, the fact that you have to go over three railroad tracks and two highways to get there.

“Is this correct? How many highways and how many railroads are there between the lake and these noncontiguous areas?”

Hartzog never quite got around to answering Sen. Bible’s direct question, but this was his reply:

“Sir, our thinking has been that the roads and railroad tracks would either be overpassed or underpassed with trail systems in order to connect the areas of the natural lakeshore.

“We have somewhat the same situation, for example, at Chalmette National Historical Park in Louisiana, where an industrial use road separates the battlefield, for example, from the river.

“We are working on a plan now to provide access to visitors across this road. This is a problem, but we don’t believe it is insurmountable.”

Project Expensive

Sen. Bible: “Do you have any cost figures on this? I suppose if you have an overpass or underpass it gets a little expensive, doesn’t it?”

Hartzog: “Yes, sir. The development schedule is indicated in the book. The development cost is about $5,700,000, and thisー”

Bible: “I'm sorry. I did not hear you.”

Hartzog: “About $5,760,000. This includes roads and trails that would be necessary for access among these detached units.”

Bible: “Now, is that the total cost of developing the non-contiguous areas, the $5.7 million?”

5 Year Figure

Hartzog: “Yes. During the 5 years. This is the first 5-year cost figure that we supplied.”

Bible: “Just for these areas along?”

Hartzog: “No. This is all development.”

Bible: “This is what I was trying to develop. How much does it cost to develop these and how much does it cost to build the trails and overpasses and underpasses to them? Do you have that breakdown?”

Hartzog: “We don’t have it broken down here precisely as to what part relates to the detached areas and what part is inside the main body of the national seashore.

Roads, Trails

“However, in the breakdown we show $15,000 in the first year for roads, $550,000 for roads and trails in the second year, the same amount in the third year, and $250,000 in the fourth year.

“So this would be roughly $1,365,000 for roads and trails. All of this would not be, however, solely for the purpose of linking up the detached units. There would be some trail developments within the principal areas itself.”

Harbor supporters consider this linkup as a scheme by Sen. Douglas to contain economic development in Indiana in order to provide greater industrial advantages to Illinois. That is why they call it the “Douglas Wall”.

Jan. 11, 1936: SEEK FACTS FOR INDIANA HISTORY

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on January 11, 1936.

SEEK FACTS FOR INDIANA HISTORY

BY LYNN M. WHIPPLE

Believe it or notーsome fifty prominent business and professional Garyites and three Valparaisoans Thursday night drove miles over treacherous ice-covered highways. Pointed their autos into a narrow forbidding roadway and drove to the top of the highest sand dune along Porter county’s stretch of Lake Michigan shoreline.

Gilded up the steep and winding ascent by dim lights atop the bleak, snow-covered, wind-driven ascent, the voyageurs found themselves at spacious, impressive Dunes Acres Club House, a far-famed summer-time retreat whose building was inspired by Gary’s celebrated schoolmaster. Dr. William A. Wirt.

And it was to go to school that the party of half a hundred curious individuals made what seemed at times a risky trip.

Inside Dunes Acres Club House, two great fireplaces did their best to overcome the wintery chill and lake-side dampness. Flames lashing sizable logs illuminated and, as they have through many centuries, cast a spell upon those assembled about them.

Believe it or notーthis group, accustomed to dodging the rigors of winter as much as possible, shivered and enjoyed it.

Believe it or notーthis group choked and sneezed and applied handkerchiefs to watery eyes, caused by heavy wood smoke, and got a thrill out of it.

And all this was just what the schoolmaster of the evening, Ross Lockridge, professor of history, Indiana University, had ordered. For there was design behind it all. For Professor Lockridge was prepared to hold school in a manner both old and new.

What he aimed at was setting and atmosphere. And that’s what he got when, following the schoolmaster, the group climbed the stairs leading to the lodge room which, like the main floor, was made cheery and tenantable by two great fireplace fires, and sat down for the program of the evening.

Purpose of the gathering was to permit Professor Lockridge to demonstrate, first hand, just how the new type of history, sponsored by the Writers’ Guide Division of WPA, works out.

“When the project was first announced it drew a lot of criticism. ‘What, more history?’ scoffed those who did not like the idea. They didn’t like the idea. They didn’t like the idea because they didn’t understand it,” he stated.

Dr. Lockridge then proceeded to explain the plan back of the nation-wide history getting and history writing project. He heads the Indiana section, and Mrs. Naomi Harris Phillips heads the Lake and Porter county section, under Professor Lockridge.

“We are not going to preclude old-fashioned, cold fact, history. What we aim to do is to go into the several historic divisions of Indiana (others will do the same thing in other states) and dig out the folklore, the colorful personalities who, in the past, have made history. We want to know exactly how they lived, what they did by way of sports and dance and song. In other words, we want to make the past live again through the daily lives of its people.”

Project workers headed by Professor Lockridge are now in northwestern Indiana gathering and assembling bits of local lore. Miss Zada Carr, Valparaiso librarian, is the local leader of the Writers’ build project. After all the material is in, it will be edited under Professor Lockridge’s supervision, and finally forwarded to headquarters in Washington for final preparation. When completed, Americans may read and “sense” the full history of any state, and part of a state.

To bring before the group assemble in Dunes Acre Club House an example of what is sought, Professor Lockridge told the story of the First Pioneer Hoosier, the French explorer, LaSalle, on whom he is an authority, having written a book which is published by the World Book Company, Chicago.

“Out here on the edge of Lake Michigan we should be able to visualize the time some three centuries ago when the only native Americans, Indians, had their dwelling,” said Professor Lockridge. “Except for a few buildings, this place atop this big dune, is little changed in setting from the time that LaSalle and his band of thirteen faithful followers, undertook the exploration of the Ohio-Mississippi valleys and the Lake Michigan area.” So graphic was Professor Lockridge’s recital that scarcely a person moved position during a forty-minute lecture on LaSalle and his troubles and triumphs.

Another feature of the program were Indian, French and pioneer songs, with Miss Marcella Duncan. Lafayette, as soloist. Songs were sung without accompaniment, just as they were originally rendered. The effect was surprisingly good. Miss Bernice Jenkins, Fort Wayne, presented Indiana, French and pioneer dances, encostume.

Rev. A.R. Evans, of Gary, field worker on the project, impressively delivered an old-time “Hell and Damnation” Pioneer Indiana sermon. A Presbyterian minister, Rev. Evans himself knew something of back-in-the-hills life as for years he rode circuit in Brown county. The setting for his sermon was a spot near Vincennes during the rule of Governor William Henry Harrison.

The aim of Mrs. Phillips and Dr. Evans is to obtain all the highlights of localized and district history of northwestern Indiana. Porter county individuals having historical data or information are requested to contact the Valparaiso librarian, Miss Carr. There are some 150 workers on the state WPA Writers’ Project Guide, with eleven supervisors. Those attending the Dunes Acres gathering from Valparaiso were: Mrs. A.R. Putna, former president of the Porter County Historical Society; Avery B. Weaver and the writer, both of The VIdette-Messenger.

Dec. 21, 1985: Traditions then meant more work, but also more joy

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on December 21, 1985.

Traditions then meant more work, but also more joy

By Elizabeth Cloyd

Staff writer

PORTER ー Resting before a blazing fire in a cabin nestled in the snow-covered Indiana Dunes seems like a cozy way to celebrate Christmas.

Melissa Brooks portrays the eldest girl in the house during a Swedish celebration of St. Lucia’s Day. As the eldest girl, she serves coffee and rolls to Paul and Connie White. St. Lucia’s Day, Dec. 13, opened the Christmas season for the early Swedish settlers.

Maybe it wouldn’t seem so comfy if you had to chop the wood for the blazing fire, slaughter a duck or goose for Christmas dinner and settle down to finally relax in a home you built yourself.

For the early Swedish and French settlers in the Dunes area, Christmas was a long season that required much preparation, but resulted in much joy.

Swedish settlers, like Anders Chellberg, celebrated the holidays from Dec. 13 to Jan. 13. Joseph Bailly, and other French settlers in the area, celebrated from Christmas Eve through Jan. 6.

Both groups of settlers enjoyed a holiday season brimming with food, merriment and song, according to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore ranger Jude Rakowski.

Rakowski is coordinating a look at Christmas in the mid-1800s that will begin at 1 p.m. today at the Bailly Homestead and Chellberg Farm.

Visitors will be able to tour the homestead and farm and take a peek at what Christmas was like in the 18th century, the times when the pioneers of Porter County settled here. Call 926-7561 to make sure space is available.

The program is just one event scheduled during the winter months to encourage people to visit and use the park, Rakowski said.

“Yesteryear’s Traditions'' programs began at the farm and homestead in 1981. Rakowski said park rangers and volunteers sought information about the Christmas traditions and events families like the Chellbergs and Baillys may have enjoyed during the holidays.

Authentic Swedish wreaths and a tree will decorate the Chellberg farm and straw sheaves and sorghum branches will decorate the trees outside. At Bailly, trees and carolers will inspire Christmas spirit.

Recreating a pioneer Christmas isn’t easy.

Rangers and volunteers had the information about what everyday life was like for the early settlers, but had to dig around to find out what a typical holiday might be like, Rakowski said.

Much of the information came from northwest Indiana residents who were from Sweden or France, or were descendents of persons from those countries.

“It’s a rich area as far as customs go,” Rakowski said. “There are not as many French people in the area but a lot of people who live here are right from Sweden.”

Many Swedish residents are recruited to serve as guides for the program, to share their knowledge as well as their accents. Rakowski said she tries to find former Sweden residents because their accents add charm and realism to the presentations, but it isn’t always possible to find transplanted Swedes.

One year Rakowski served as “Jude Johannsen” for the day, complete with a practiced Swedish accident.

Rakowski said to learn about Swedish customs, she and other rangers conducted interviews with area residents and leafed through books. Visits to area museums also provided insight into the holidays. Finding out more about how the Baillys welcomed the holidays was another matter. Students enrolled in French classes at Chesterton High School researched customs and will serve as guides during the program. “Yesteryear’s Traditions'' visitors will be greeted by guides in authentic Swedish and French costumes. The guides will divide visitors into two groups, one that will visit Bailly first, the other viewing Christmas at Chellberg first.

The Christmas season at the Chellberg Farm, and other Swedish homesteads, began on St. Lucia’s Day, Dec. 13. On that morning, the eldest girl in the home donned a crown with five candles and beckoned her family to come down for a breakfast she prepared, Rakowski said.

Anders and Johanna Chellberg and their family probably enjoyed a light breakfast of rolls and coffee, and hung wreaths of lingonberries or whortleberries on their doors and walls, according to the ranger.

On Christmas Eve the Chellbergs probably bathed and washed their hair in large wooden or metal tubs. Christmas crowns of straw were hung on the walls of the Chellberg Farm, adn straw was strewn on the clean floor to represent the straw in the manager.

Straw will also represent the manager and wreaths will be hung today, just as they were when the Chellbwehs celebrated Christmas in their home in the 1880s.

A half-moon of evergreens was spread outside the house door, so visitors could wipe their feet before entering. The Christmas tree was hidden from the children as parents decorated it with white candles, flags, woven hearts, fruits and nuts. When the tree was decorated, the Jul-bock, or goat, rang a bell, beckoning the children into the room.

Even the animals celebrated the holiday. Rakowski said wheat and sorghum sheaves were tied with a red ribbon to feed the birds, and the farm animals were given a special Christmas Eve meal.

A bowl of porridge was set in the barn for the Jultomten, friendly gnome that supposedly lived under the barn floor.

Julotta, a church service, opened Christmas Day for the Swedes. Families traveled to church in sleighs and carried candles during the service.

Dec. 28 was St. Stephen's Day, a day of feasting and visiting. Families strolled from home, singing carols at each open door.

The Christmas season ended between Jan. 6 and 13, when the Christmas tree candles were lit for the last time.

When Joseph Bailly and his family established their homestead in Westchester Township in 1822, they probably began their first Christmas there on Dec. 24 with a yule log-burning party. Each family saved part of each year’s yule log for the following year’s Christmas.

A bundle of wheat and sorghum tied to a tree provides a Christmas treat for the birds at Chellberg farm. Trying the bundles to trees during the holidays is a Swedish custom observed by early settlers in the area.

Christmas was a solemn, religious day when the settlers celebrated Christ’s birth with a high mass.

The settlers’ celebrated New Year’s Eve with caroling and a feast. During the festivities, families brought out food, clothing and money for the poor, which masqueraded carolers collected on carts.

New Year’s Day was also filled with caroling and skits, and families exchanged gifts. The French settlers visited their neighbors on the first day of the year, and the gentlemen of each family lined up in order of age to kiss the hostess on the cheek.

The Feasts of Kings, a formal ball, ended the Christmas festivities Jan. 6.

The King of the ball was chosen by pure coincidence.

The oldest woman in the village baked a cake with four beans hidden in it. The first unmarried man to find a bean in his slice of cake was chosen king, and reigned over the festivities for the evening.

Several of these traditions will be re-enacting during the Bailly-Chellberg Christmas. Children will be invited to decorate the tree at the Chellberg Farm, Rakowski said, and carolers will fill the area with music at both locations.

A woman will sing French Christmas carols at Bailly, and Swedish music will be provided at Chellberg. A wood-burning water heater to keep animals warm will also be stoked up and operating at Chellberg.

Volunteers and park rangers will explain the Swedish and French holiday customs and will answer questions about those early Porter County Christmas celebrations and about the first residents.

Nov. 28, 1975: Bailly Home Pact Awarded

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on November 28, 1975.

Bailly Home Pact Awarded

Contract for more than $162,000 was awarded today to an Indiana firm for the restoration of the historic Bailly Homestead on Howe Road in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Rainbow Construction Co., Inc., Geneva was successful bidder on the project with a proposal of $162,217, according to a spokesman for Indiana Sen. Vance Hartke, who was notified on the decision of the National Park Service.

A pre-construction meeting with Lakeshore personnel, park service representatives and the construction firm will be held Dec. 16 at the national park near Chesterton to finalize plans for the renovation.

Included in the contract will be restoration to various historical stages of the Bailly residence and four other buildings on the homestead property along the Little Calumet River between U.S. 20 and U.S. 12. 

Lakeshore Supt. J.R. Whitehouse said today the project also will include provisions for a trail of wood chips connecting the historical structures and several information exhibits concerning the area. The restoration will show the evolution of the site where the first white settlers of northern Indiana made their home.

At least one of the buildings will be restored to near its appearance in 1822. Others will be restored to appear as they would at various intervals to 1917 when the last of the Baillys, Frances Howe, sold the property.

The construction project will involve detailed work under the supervision of a historical engineer from the National Park Service, Whitehouse said. Foundations will be strengthened and bricks and logs will be replaced.

Work is expected to continue into next August. The site includes the family residence, built in about 1833 around the walls of a log house that was built there first.

Other structures include a brick house built around the turn of the century to accommodate a visiting bishop, a small log cabin used as a chapel, servants’ quarters and a storehouse on the west side of the road.

The area was first settled by Joseph Bailly, who set up a trading post. Before his death, in 1835, Bailly had acquired about 2,200 acres of land in Lake and Porter counties. He once mapped out streets and lots on nearby tract in an unsuccessful bid to develop a town that was to have been called Bailly.

Nov. 21, 1955: Oily Lake Michigan Water Kills Birds

Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on November 21, 1955.

Oily Lake Michigan Water Kills Birds

At least 200 water fowl have frozen to death along the Porter county shores of Lake Michigan, conservation officials said today.

Heavy oil in the water “gummed up” their feathers and prevented the birds from flying after alighting in the water, Conservation Officer Charles Black said.

Unable to leave the water by flying, the birds swam or were washed ashore where they froze to death.

Black and a party of seven men covered a four-mile stretch of the shoreline east and west of Dunes State park from late Saturday until 3 a.m. Sunday.

During this time, the party found 37 “grounded” birds which were still living. The men washed the fowl in a detergent and brought them to the Liberty township farm of Earl Hanrahan, where the animals are recuperating.

Black said that when the birds are able to preen their feathers with natural oil they will be released on inland lakes. The conservation officer also said today he did not know how long the birds would have to be kept at the Hanrahan’s before they could be released.

Most of the dead and rescued birds were of the inedible “fish duck” type, Black said. There were a few edible blue bills, he added. Among the birds found on the beach were cormorants, grebes and mergansers, which regularly inhabit the lake region.

Conservation officials said the source of the oil, which “is like a heavy No. 6 oil,” was not definitely known, although it may have come from industrial waste in the Gary area. Dead birds were found as far west as Michigan City.

Black said he first was notified of the condition Friday by persons at Dune Acres where youngsters were washing the grounded birds with a detergent.

Many of the surviving birds found by Black and his party Saturday night were unable to move when they were picked up and washed.

Floundering Birds Given Baths By Dunes State Park Officials

SOME OF THE 15 WATER FOWL found alive the shores of Lake Michigan’s Dune State park are shown being given a bath in a soapy detergent today to remove the gummy substance from their feathers, believed to have been caused by heavy oil in the water. The gummy condition prevented the fowl from flying, and washed them ashore. Park Supt. Max Dickey, left, reported that about one-half of the birds found along the shoreline Sunday were frozen to death. A check along the shore today revealed no floundering fowl. Helping in rehabilitation the fowl is parking employee Clarence Sederberg, of Chesterton.