A mysterious figure in Texas history, Dorgan is remembered for little more than the ruins of his unique adobe home preserved within Big Bend National Park.   Recently discovered military records, maps and previously classified documents reveal Dorgan as a WWI naval aviator, inventor, landscape architect, regional planner—and the first man to propose development of an…

A former federal judge and mayor of El Paso, Thomason wrote the enabling legislation for Big Bend National Park (1935) and was Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Military Affairs.   He also pursued the creation of dams and a military border highway along the Rio Grande that would serve as the infrastructure for…

Remembered as the “Father of Prohibition”, Sheppard was the most influential Texas senator of the Great Depression and chaired the Senate Committee on Military Affairs until his death in office in 1941. Declassified documents reveal Sheppard as the true master planner of Big Bend and architect of the most ambitious and covert international public works…

Representing Texas in both the House of Representatives and Senate from 1917 to 1953, Connally chaired the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and was instrumental in creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).   While remembered as a master of foreign relations, his campaign to develop an international park in Big Bend is virtually unknown. (1877-1963)

The longest serving Secretary of State in U.S. history (1933-1944), Hull won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and is remembered as the “Father of the United Nations.”   Hull supported President Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor” policy and the establishment of an international peace park in Big Bend to foster improved relations with Mexico during the Great…

The longest serving Secretary of Interior (1933-1946) and most influential of the 20th century, Ickes oversaw the National Park Service throughout the Roosevelt Administration.   Previously classified State Department records document that Ickes supported the creation of both a national and international park in the Big Bend of Texas—even after the establishment of Big Bend National…