Book Review: 
“Shifting Sands” 
by Kenneth Schoon 


Bess Sheehan 
(1882-1968): one of 
the women key to 
preserving the Indiana 
Dunes. 
Photo courtesy of 
Westchester Township 
Historical Museum. 

Toad Te 
Reviewed by Mary Damm 
The Indiana Dunes and greater Calumet area 
are a Special place to conservationists (and 
recreationists) as well as to international 
industrialists. The Calumet area is a land of 
juxtapositions - the Indiana Dunes National 
Park has the third-most plant species of any 
national park in the country with only fewer 
species than Great Smoky Mountains and 
Grand Canyon, while the Grand Calumet 
River at one time was named the most 
polluted river in the United States. 
Kenneth Schoon tells the story of the 
Calumet’s natural and cultural history in 
Shifting Sands: The Restoration of the 
Calumet Area (Indiana University Press, 
2016). Schoon provides a local perspective 
and easy-to-read narrative to 
the story as a native with family 
roots in the region and an 
| emeritus professor of education 
| at Indiana University Northwest 
_ | in Gary. 
The book has two main parts. 
| The first describes the abundant 
| natural resources and their 
use by heavy industry, and the 
‘| second relates the preservation 
of remnant natural areas and the 
clean-up of air, water, and land 
and efforts to restore biological 
communities. 
Schoon begins by describing 
the unique biological and 
geological features. Wildlife 
(fish, ducks, muskrat, and 
beaver), fresh water (and ice 
in winter), sand and more 
sand, and clay. Burgeoning 
industries grew because of 
these natural resources and their proximity 
to nearby Chicago. Over the past century 
and a half, Lake, Porter, and LaPorte 
counties have been home to major industries 
- five steel manufacturers, railroad car 
and cement factories, an oil refinery, and 
a slaughterhouse - and numerous smaller 
industries as well. Schoon provides numerous 
historical photos, postcards, and maps to 
illustrate the enormous impact of these 
14 - Indiana Native Plant Society - Summer 2021 
industries on the landscape and the city 
neighborhoods. 
While industry was in full swing, a 
preservation movement was initiated. 
This was my favorite section of the book, 
learning about the heroes, many of them 
women, that worked tirelessly to “save the 
dunes” that we enjoy today. As early as 
the 1910s, the Prairie Club, a recreational 
hiking organization, sought to protect the 
Dunes as a national park. Stephen Mather, 
later to become the first director of National 
Park Service, and Henry Cowles, “father” of 
North American ecology, were members of 
the club and vocal proponents of protecting 
the Dunes. Another member, Bess Sheehan, 
promoted the Dunes through theatrical 
performances at the Dunes, newsreels at the 
movie palaces of the day, and newspaper 
articles. When a national park effort failed, 
Sheehan worked with the Indiana Federation 
of Women’s Clubs, which had 600 chapters 
in the state, to successfully lobby state 
legislators to create Indiana Dunes State 
Park. Another hero, Dorothy Buell, along 
with 21 other women initiated a second effort 
to preserve the Dunes as a national park. 
As part of the effort, the Save the Dunes 
Council met with all 535 members of the 
U.S. Congress. The Indiana Dunes National 
Lakeshore was established in 1966. 
Restoration of the Calumet area began with 
cleaning the air and water. Just as industry 
made a dominant presence in the area, 
cleaning the air and water took a monumental 
effort. Schoon describes environmental 
legislation - federal and intergovernmental 
- that led to an immense clean-up of the 
Calumet area. 
The final chapter of the book describes 
nature preserves and restored areas that 
are accessible to the public today. Readers 
can learn of places to visit along the Grand 
and Little Calumet Rivers and in the cities 
of East Chicago, Hammond, Gary, Hobart, 
Portage, Chesterton, Beverly Shores, and 
Michigan City. 
Mary Damm, a member of the South Central 
Chapter of INPS, is a prairie ecologist and active 
in sustainable agriculture. 

