Gulf Islands National Seashore ⓘ

Dog owners expressed an interest in donating their pets to support the American war effort during World War II. This led to the creation of the Dogs for Defense program. This program placed donated dogs into an 8-12-week basic training program. Those that completed the initial training were then forwarded to receive specialized training based on their skills and abilities. One of the five training centers was located on a Mississippi barrier island called Cat Island. Currently it is managed by Gulf Islands National Seashore. Anti-Japanese sentiment spread across the United States during the war. For Japanese Americans, the war meant internment, segregation, and unjust treatment. More than 33,000 second-generation Japanese Americans, or Nisei (NEE-say), volunteered to serve in the armed forces despite the prejudice they faced. Of those, 19,000 served in three segregated units: 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service. The men of the 100th were Japanese Americans from Hawaii. In late 1942, the US Army selected Nisei from the 100th to take part in a top-secret training mission. Swiss dog trainer William A. Prestre proposed a new specialized training program based on a belief that dogs could differentiate humans by smell based on their cultural heritage. He believed trained dog packs could track and attack Japanese soldiers in the Pacific Theater. The Army agreed to the proposal and classified it as top secret while the dogs were being trained. The Army leased Cat Island; a private uninhabited island just off the coast of Mississippi. The dense vegetation, ecosystem, and climate of the island resembled the pacific. There were plenty of scrub oaks, pines, lagoons, and marsh grasses for camouflage. Cat Island was the perfect location for this top-secret training facility. Whisked away under secrecy, the Japanese American soldiers arrived by plane into Gulfport to be loaded on to two US Coast Guard ships to travel to Ship Island, Mississippi. From there every day they traveled by boat six miles to Cat Island to participate in training scenarios with military dogs and their handlers. To train the dogs, Japanese Americans soldiers were selected to serve as live targets. Prestre believed that Japanese people smell different than Americans. To test his theory, Prestre had the Nisei men run drills with the dogs. The initial drill involved these soldiers hiding in the dense vegetation with a piece of meat. Once found the soldier would fire an air rifle into the air, place the meat against his throat, and fall to the ground. Instead of attacking, the dogs grabbed the meat and licked the soldier's face thinking the meat was a treat.

In 1834, work began on a three-story brick fortification along the eastern end of sandy Foster’s Bank (Perdido Key). Part of the Third System of United States’ coastal defenses, the fort was completed in 1839. Named for a distinguished officer, Brevet Colonel William McRee (War of 1812). Fort McRee and its associated water-battery helped complete the defenses of Pensacola Bay and naval yard. Combined with Fort Barrancas and Fort Pickens, these three fortifications formed an area of protective crossfire to defend this important body of water from enemy vessels. (Wayside) (Roberts, 1988) (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, 2017)

During the 1820’s, three main forts were designed and built as coastal defenses to protect Pensacola Bay and the deep harbor. These included, Fort Barrancas, Fort Pickens and Fort McRee, also known as the “Castle on Fosters Island.” This castle would be built on the eastern tip of Perdido Key, upon a sandy bar known as Fosters Bank . Building this fort was more difficult than building of Fort Pickens, which was a herculean effort, Lt. William Chase struggled to convince Army superiors to pour more resources into building another fort. However, he was eventually able to persuade them of the importance of defending the point and construction started on what became Fort McRee. A foundation was not laid, instead sand was simply built up to meet the height requirement of the parade ground, five feet above the high tide mark. Its wing design was unique among third system forts appearing more like earlier second system forts. A solider walking the perimeter would cover 360 yards. Though a small fort, it contained approximately 1.5 million bricks from Mobile and the Pensacola area. The 12 feet high casemates were bisected by wooden platforms creating three tiers of cannon positions. Some of the casemates on the north and western walls were used as barracks. Along with the living quarters, the fort had three staircases, one being a turret style much like the stairs of Fort Massachusetts. To improve the defensive capabilities of the fort, two hot shot furnaces were added on opposing sides of the parade ground. By the early 1840’s the fort on Fosters Bank received its permanent name, Fort McRee, though sometimes seen spelled McRae. The fort saw action during the Civil War, but extensive damage sustained during a bombardment along with its remote location led to its eventual destruction.

In January 1861, many state militias in areas such as Florida, began to occupy federal fortifications. In the Pensacola area, U.S. troops left Fort McRee and Fort Barrancas and consolidated at Fort Pickens. Many supplies were likewise removed to Fort Pickens, while those supplies which could not be transported were often burned. Navy Lieutenant Erben of the Supply, destroyed the remaining powder and materials left at Fort McRee. Southern troops occupied Fort McRee in mid-January, and by the end of March guns were being mounted and additional batteries set up. Not until the morning of November 22 1861, did the Pensacola area experience the deafening sounds of thundering artillery from forts, batteries, and ships. At 9:55 am, Union held Fort Pickens began bombardment of Confederate forces at the Pensacola navy yard, shores batteries, and Fort Barrancas and Fort McRee. Under heavy artillery fire, Fort McRee was exposed to severe bombardment at its front, flank, and rear. Two Union warships, U.S.S. Niagara and U.S.S. Richmond joined the bombardment of Fort McRee. This massive artillery exchange shook houses ten miles away and concussion-stunned fish which floated to the surface of the bay. Confederates forces at Fort McRee fired back against the two Union vessels and Fort Pickens. However, after five hours of continued artillery exchange, the guns of Fort McRee fell silent, evidence of the extensive damage to the fort which made operating the cannon impossible. The following day, battle resumed in earnest, however no return fire came from Fort McRee. The damage to the brick edifice and cannons was extensive. The flag pole had been shot and the wooden structures within the fort had caught fire at least three times during the bombardment. By May of 1862, Confederate forces abandoned Fort McRee. The once imposing fortification had been reduced to a burned-out and fragmented brick shell. Essentially abandoned after the Civil War, the toll of warfare and of the elements continued to take Fort McRee into further ruin. By the early 1900s, what little was left of this once imposing defensive structure was rapidly crumbling. Today, nothing visible remains of this Third System fortification, although later coastal defense structures built in the area are commonly referred to as old Fort McRee.

Coleman, J. C. (1988). Fort McRee "A Castle Built on Sand." Pensacola, Florida: Pensacola Historical Society. Konstam, A. (2003). American Civil War Fortifications (1) Coastal Brick and Stone Forts. London: Osprey Publishing. (n.d.). Fort McRee. Florida, United States: Gulf Islands National Seashore, National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. (2017, March 23). Pensacola Harbor Defense Project. Pensacola, Florida, United States: National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Office of Secretary of the Navy. (1984). Offical Records of the Confederate and Union Navies in the War of the Rebellion (Vols. Series 1 - Volume 16). (C. W. Stewart, Ed.) Washington , D.C.: Government Printing Office. Roberts, R. B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States. New York: Macmillan. Wayside. (n.d.). Fort McRee. Florida, United States: Gulf Islands National Seashore, National Park Service.

After the Civil War, new warfare technology such as rifled artillery and armored warships called for more elaborate defenses. Many concrete batteries and gun emplacements on Santa Rosa Island were built to prevent hostile vessels from entering Pensacola Bay. Four concrete batteries were built in the Fort Pickens area between 1895 and 1899 including: Batteries Cullum - Sevier, Battery Pensacola, Battery Van Swearingen and Battery Worth.

Later, smaller and faster ships like minesweepers and torpedo boats presented a new threat. These boats were designed to penetrate minefields and three batteries were built at Fort Pickens between 1898 and 1905 in response. These batteries included Batteries Payne, Trueman and Cooper.

To protect Pensacola Bay, many other structures were needed to support the fort and its batteries such as: battery commander's stations, radar stations, coincidence range finders, magazines, searchlights and power houses, mine support structures, post housing, and administration buildings. Additionally, roads, a narrow-gauge rail line, a sea wall, and other support facilities were needed as well.

In 1885, the US Life-Saving Service constructed Florida’s first two life-saving stations, one at Jupiter Inlet and one on Santa Rosa Island. Architect J. Lake Parkinson designed the Santa Rosa Life-Saving Station, similar to at least 23 other stations constructed between 1882 and 1891. The original structure was a two-story building topped with an enclosed lookout tower that had windows on each side. The keeper, his family, and the crew lived on the second story. Dormers, or roofed structures containing windows, on the second level improved visibility. The crew’s quarters were sparsely furnished with iron cots and clothes lockers. A lifeboat stored on a mounted wagon, a utility room, a storage closet, and a living room were all located on the ground floor of the station. The station also had a smaller Monomoy surf boat that launched from the beach. Signal flares and a tripod-mounted lookout glass were kept in the lookout tower. The exterior featured an open porch, a detached kitchen, and a wooden ramp leading to the beach to launch the lifeboat. The crew of the life-saving station were capable of launching boats from the beach directly into Santa Rosa Sound and the Gulf of America. When ships wrecked close to shore but seas were too rough to launch boats, the crew had an alternative rescue method. They deployed a Lyle gun , cannon-like tool, that launched a projectile attached to a line up to 600 yards off shore. Once the line was secure, the crew aboard the ship could pull out a heavier ‘hawser’ line to be used as safe passage to shore. On February 25, 1889 Captain Robert Broadbent became the keeper of Santa Rosa Life-Saving Station. Broadbent and his family survived a powerful hurricane on September 26, 1906. The storm was so strong it demolished the original life-saving station. Broadbent recounted his experience in an article in the Pensacola News Journal on October 24. Thanks to his leadership, everyone survived by taking shelter in the surfboat in-between the dunes. The hurricane intensified overnight. Those in the surfboat could only hunker down and listen to the surging storm tear apart the station. At dawn, when the wind had decreased slightly, the survivors rowed across the bay to seek shelter in the woods. Exhausted and frightened, the survivors then walked two miles to the Pensacola Navy Yard where they were taken to the hospital to recover. In 1908, the current building replaced the destroyed structure. With the establishment of the US Coast Guard in 1915, the Santa Rosa Life-Saving Station became Coast Guard Station 212. In 1986 the Us Coast Guard relocated to Naval Air Station Pensacola. The old life-saving station became a part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Today, the life-saving station houses the Fort Pickens Campground Registration Office.

The Mississippi Sound, known for its shallow dark waters, can be a treacherous area for vessels navigating between Mobile and New Orleans. Shifting shoals and storms complicated travel by ships along this stretch of barrier islands and mainland coast. However, commercial shipping traffic was vital to survival along the Mississippi gulf coast, thus requiring the government to provide navigational aids and beacons. In 1848, monetary appropriations were approved for the construction of the Ship Island Light. The lighthouse was built to stand 45 feet from base to lantern with walls three and a half feet wide at the base and tapering to two feet wide near the top. The structure was completed on November 4, 1853, and Edward Havens became the light’s first keeper on December 25 of the same year. The Ship Island Lighthouse became a guiding light for vessels plying the waters along the Gulf Coast, until secessionist forces seized the island in January of 1861. The light was extinguished, and its Fresnel lens removed. Confederate forces destroyed the interior of the lighthouse by lighting it on fire. Their intent was to prevent the lighthouse from being used by Union forces, who seized the island in September 1861. Repairs were initiated, and the light was again providing navigational aid by November 1862. After surviving storms, the Civil War, and the harsh environs of a barrier island, erosion proved to be the fatal trial for the first Ship Island Light. During high winds the tower would sway and was “Liable to fall at any time,” according to keeper Dan McColl. Eventually the lighthouse was abandoned entirely in 1885. As the old abandoned lighthouse slowly succumbed to the effects of weather, a new light station was designed and built by John Gardner. This second Ship Island lighthouse consisted of a wooden tower, keeper’s house, cistern, oil house, and a wharf, and was illuminated on September 1 , 1886 with the lens from the original lighthouse. Still standing, the first Ship Island Light tower weathered the 1893 hurricane and finally fell into the Mississippi Sound by 1901. For almost five decades, the first Ship Island Lighthouse stood as a familiar area landmark, but the ever changing nature of barrier islands proved fatal for the impressive structure.

In 1885, shoreline erosion made the first Ship Island Lighthouse inoperable, and the beacon was abandoned. Plans for a new beacon were already underway. At 75 feet, the new wooden structure was fitted with the old lighthouse’s pedestal and Fresnel 4th Order Lens. The Second Ship Island Lighthouse was illuminated in September 1886 and served until 1957. Although it survived numerous storms and strong hurricanes, the wooden tower was accidently set on fire by campers and destroyed in 1972. (Ship Island Lighthouses, 2005)

Area residents mourned the loss of the historic structure. Eventually, a proposal was initiated and approved to build a replica-styled exhibit. Through funding support of the Friends of Gulf Islands National Seashore and construction provided by the Seabees of the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion in Gulfport, the second Ship Island Light’s outer exhibit shell was designed. Construction of the new exhibit started in 1998 and was capped off when a Coast Guard helicopter placed the new cupola a top the tower in February 2000. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina’s intense winds and waves destroyed the exhibit just five years after its dedication. (Ship Island Lighthouses, 2005)

(2005, June). Ship Island Lighthouses. Mississippi, United States: Gulf Islands National Seashore, National Park Service. Bearrs, E. (1984). Historical Resource Study: Ship Island, Harrison County, Mississippi, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida/Mississippi. Denver: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

When Johnson was 15, he lied about his age to enroll in the US Army so he could help support his family. As a member of the 24th Infantry stationed in Japan, Johnson and his regiment were some of the first soldiers deployed to fight during the Korean War. On July 26, 1950, after Johnson pulled two wounded soldiers to safety during conflict, he was fatally wounded while attempting to retrieve a third soldier- he was 17 years old. On August 21, 1950, Johnson was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart medal for his heroic actions.

At the time Rosamond joined the Army, his hometown, like many places in the United States at the time was segregated, and Jim Crow laws were in place to limit the rights of African Americans. These laws affected nearly every aspect of public life for African Americans in Escambia County, Florida, including the world-renowned beaches. While places like Pensacola Beach were designated “whites only”, the eastern end of Perdido Key became a refuge where black citizens could enjoy the beauty and recreational opportunities of the beach and the Gulf.

After the Korean conflict, the Sunset Riding Club Inc. which had leased the beach on the eastern end of Perdido Key from the county proposed naming the area for Private Johnson in order to honor and remember his sacrifice and the beach’s importance within the community. When Gulf Islands National Seashore was established, and the Perdido Key Area was added, the name Rosamond Johnson Beach was retained for the developed swim beach. . Gulf Islands National Seashore and its partners hold an annual Rosamond Johnson Commemoration each May to remember the service and sacrifice of Private Johnson and his family. A monument and wayside about Private Johnson and his service in the United States are permanently installed at the beach.

Before Horn Island became part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, it was a refuge for Walter Inglis Anderson. Known by the locals as “that crazy artist,” his family called him “Bob.” In the later years of his life, Bob rowed to Horn Island as often as possible. He created thousands of paintings and sketches inspired by the Mississippi island wilderness. Yet, Bob did not treat his works of art with care and most of his work was unseen during his life.

Bob worked as a decorator at his family’s pottery shop. He married Agnes “Sissy” Grinstead in 1933. During this time, it became evident that Bob struggled with mental illness. Hospitalized against his will, Bob received a new form of shock treatment for mental health concerns. He escaped from several mental health hospitals. Once, he even disappeared for months and walked 1,000 miles from Maryland back to his home on the coast of Mississippi. Eventually, Bob found a balance living a life of recluse in coastal Mississippi.

In 1944, Bob fell in love with the Mississippi islands, especially Horn Island. In the wilderness, he found an escape from the pressures and personal demons that plagued him on the mainland. His wife’s memoir paints a picture of two men. One that she loves, who opens her eyes to the natural world around them and lives at ease surrounded by wilderness. The other she fears, who irrationally insists his children are not his own and refuses to live in the same home as his family.

In the last 20 years of his life, he rowed his small wooden skiff 12 miles to Horn Island 100 times or more. On these journeys his skiff capsized, he slept through hurricanes while nestled in the sand, and even stumbled upon the U.S. army testing biological warfare during World War II. Despite these challenges, he experienced Horn Island. Rising with the sun, Bob would marvel at the light and colors on the island. He would explore, take in all the sights, journal about his days, and find peace among the other wild things.

It was painting that captured Bob’s heart and consumed his time. He painted with watercolors, quick to dry, so that he could capture fleeting moments before they were gone. Anderson wrote in his journal, “one image succeeds another with surprising regularity on Horn Island.” Inspiration was endless. He spent his days like this, sometimes for weeks at a time, while he lived on the island. Bob returned to the mainland, only when supplies ran out.

His paintings, much like the barrier island that inspired them, were not made to be permanent. Walter Anderson painted because he had to, with no concern about what happened to his completed works. It was not realized until he passed away how many pieces of art he had created. His wife, Sissy, found hundreds of drawings and watercolors littering Anderson’s cottage. Unfortunately, water damage and pests ruined much of his art. His remaining pieces gained him the respect and fame he never wanted or cared about during his life.

Displayed today in the Walter Anderson Museum of Art and the William M. Colmer Visitor Center at Davis Bayou, his work serves as a reminder of nature’s ability to heal. As Bob wrote to his wife before journeying to Horn Island, he was “going home.” Just like Anderson, we all have a home in nature. Horn Island, preserved by Gulf Islands National Seashore and protected by the Wilderness Act, remains untrammeled and untouched by the hand of man. Today, its ready to welcome home any who have lost their connection to the natural world.

In August of 2005, a catastrophic hurricane hit Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina caused destruction from which many communities are still recovering.

Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical depression that was formed over the Bahamas on August 23, 2005, and strengthened into a tropical storm the next day on August 24, 2005. On August 27, the storm reached Category 3 strength with top winds exceeding 115 miles per hour and was fast approaching Louisiana and Mississippi. Within nine hours of the storm entering the Gulf of America it increased to a Category 5, the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

At the Mississippi barrier islands: Cat, Petit Bois, Horn, and Ship Island (formally known as East Ship and West Ship Island), preparations were made for a direct impact from the massive storm. Though barrier islands can protect the mainland from storms, these islands were no match for Hurricane Katrina’s immense storm surge. On August 29, the Category 3 hurricane barreled towards Mississippi and it’s barrier islands.

Winds of up to 120 mph were recorded and the storm surges ranged from 5.5 meters to 9 meters (16- 30 feet) in height. These surges overtopped Ship Island’s Fort Massachusetts but failed to undermine the structure. The exhibit lighthouse that was erected in 1996 was washed away. The surge also wiped out the facilities including picnic shelters, snack bars, the pier and boardwalk on West Ship Island as well as several structures on Horn Island. East Ship Island’s forest was demolished and the trees along the entire beach were either snapped or their bark ripped off completely to heights of eight meters. Katrina’s extreme storm surge resulted in massive erosion on all of the island and also widened the separation or the “Camille cut” between West Ship and East Ship islands.

The Florida areas of the park were impacted even though Hurricane Katrina’s eye landed 125 miles west of Perdido Key. Hurricane Katrina’s outer band produced a 5.37ft storm surge with the maximum wind gusts reported at 69 mph. The Fort Pickens Area was particularly vulnerable to gulf to bay flooding from storm tides following the severe erosion and dune destruction caused by Hurricane Ivan, Tropical Storm Arlene, and Hurricane Dennis. Major portions of the park roads were still under repair when the 2005 storms destroyed the roads again.

The National Park Service “deployed a total of 1,894 NPS personnel in response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, including 229 personnel to support Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ESF activities under the National Response Plan (U.S. Department of the Interior).” According to the Department of Interior, 100,000 cubic yards of debris and a ton of hazardous materials and wastes were removed from Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Davis Bayou Campground was briefly used by FEMA to temporarily house victims of the hurricane.

The National Park Service is constantly working to prepare and improve the resiliency of national seashore facilities and resources. The national seashore prepares for these anticipated impacts and will normally be the first sites in the local area to close and the last areas to reopen. In some of these locations, roadways and facilities are just a few yards from the Gulf of America.

The live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) is symbol of beauty and endurance along the northern Gulf of Mexico’s coast. The wood of the live oak trees is very dense, strong, and among the heaviest of American woods. Live oak lumber has a particular grain (texture) which creates enormous strength for supporting weight and pressure. This strength made the wood ideal for the interior hulls of ships, especially warships. Live oak lumber was used to form the main curved structural supports of ship hulls and decking such as “L” shaped “knee braces.” These knee braces were also used to support the decks in many tall wooden ships. The U.S.S. Constitution’s inner hull (1795) was built from live oak lumber. The strength of the Constitution’s live oak structural components was put to the test in battle against the H.M.S. Guerriere during the War of 1812. A U.S. victory in this duel led to the vessel’s nickname “Old Ironsides”. Naval use of live oak trees in the building of warships had proven itself in combat. The naval Live Oak Tree Reservation Program started under President John Quincy Adams and his Secretary of the Navy Samuel S. Southland. In 1828, the first national tree farm, called Naval Live Oak Reservation, was established on a peninsula between Pensacola Bay and Santa Rosa Sound. By 1831, the United States had a virtual monopoly on the supply of live oak trees. Most large groves were controlled by the federal government for the building and maintaining of navy warships. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson’s Secretary of the Navy informed the United States House of Representatives:

“The live oak is a supply “of the best quality,” because it is superior in strength, resistance, and hardness, to the celebrated British oak which forms “the wooden walls” (Royal Navy) of England.”

The American Civil War marked the fast approaching end of U.S. wooden warships. Steam was replacing sails, and metal replacing wood. This precipitated the end of many federal Live Oak Reservations. These reservations were often returned to the public for parks or opened for agriculture and settlement. In 1906, the Biloxi Naval Live Oak Reservation in Mississippi was given to the City of Biloxi as a recreational park. The land today makes up part of Keesler Air Force Base, the Biloxi National Cemetery and Veteran’s Administration Hospital Complex. Naval Live Oaks in Gulf Breeze, Florida serves as an icon of the United States’ historic naval shipbuilding tradition.

Snell, C. W. (1983). Special History Study, A History of the Naval Live Oaks Reservation Program, 1794-1880: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of American Conservation. Denver: Gulf Islands National Seashore, National Park Service. USS Constitution. (2017, February 03). Retrieved from Boston National Historical Park: https://www.nps.gov/bost/learn/historyculture/ussconst.htm

Gulf Islands National Seashore tells unique stories of the people and places that shaped the United States of America. The Gulf of America has shaped – and still shapes – American history and culture. During the age of exploration and colonization, Europeans entered the Gulf and laid claim to the New World. Deepwater anchorages at Pensacola Bay in Florida and at Ship Island in Mississippi supported Spanish, French, and British development along the northern Gulf Coast. The annexation of coastal Mississippi territories in 1804 and Spain ceded its Florida territories to the United States in 1819 setting the stage for the series of events which define American history and established protections for natural and cultural resources preserved by the national seashore. From General Andrew Jackson’s military conquests of Pensacola, to the celebrated artwork of Walter Anderson, to your first splash into the Gulf’s warm emerald waters, people shape and are shaped by the Gulf of America. This complex and storied history motivated Americans in the 20th century to advocate for the creation of Gulf Islands National Seashore, which was established by Congress on January 8, 1971. What follows is for you to help create.