46 



Dahlgren 



and they didn't have to worry about that. At Indian Head, they had a bank of 

 dirt and the guns were supposed to fire the projectiles into this bank so they 

 couldn't get over into Virginia. One of these projectiles went crazy and skipped 

 over the top of this pile of dirt, and that's the one that landed in Quantico. 

 Nobody was hurt. Of course, Dahlgren, since I retired, fired a gun down the 

 river one time and the rotating band came off. The projectile lost its trajectory 

 and landed in somebody's back yard way down the river. 



As you say, the danger at Indian Head was the reason Dahlgren was created. Also, once 

 Dahlgren was developed and heavy ordnance xuas tested here, it seems that the people who 

 were living at Indian Head were not happy about haviyig to move to Dahlgren. 



A lot of the original workers here had been at Indian Head for years. They 

 were the foundation stock, so to speak, of the early Proving Ground. 



/ understand that they began to complain about the construction at Dahlgren. There was a 

 controversy over the Captain's quarters. There was some discussion on whether it was too 

 opulent for a naval station at that time. 



They thought they spent too much money for what they called the "Arcadian 

 Biungalows" down there. I think they were supposed to be limited to $10,000, 



Construction of Dijucy's liomc at the Dalilgren Proving Cnniiid in 1921. The house still 

 stands and is in use today. 



