Additional recognition for Medford's airport was received from the War Department today by Chamber of Commerce officials.
    A telegram from Congressman James W. Mott, addressed to W. S. Bolger, chamber president, stated: "Secretary of War has agreed, in view of large number of aircraft being ferried through Medford and increase which has recently taken place in army air activities, to provide a servicing detail and government oil at Medford for airplanes of the army air corps which pass through Medford airport."
    Chamber of Commerce officials were glad to hear that the army would give such recognition to Medford and are particularly encouraged in view of the fact that this city has applied for an army base here. With the establishing of an army detail here the Chamber of Commerce will press its claims for the air base, it was announced.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 16, 1934, page 1


    For the service and care of military planes that are traveling on the Pacific Coast, an army emergency field is being established at the Medford Municipal Airport, with four men to be stationed here permanently. Warrant Officer Charles E. Miller has arrived in Medford from the Presidio, San Francisco, and is to be in charge of getting the supplies and equipment here, in order that the field might be available to the government planes by the first of August.
    Sergeant Willie M. Daws is to have charge of the field work here, and will be assisted by Corporal James L. MacDonald and Private Leroy D. Atkinson of the army air corps, who will arrive here some time this month from March Field, Los Angeles.
    According to Officer Miller, all army ships will make regular stops at the Medford airport, to be serviced. Large flight groups will set down here, and the men will be able to take care of as many as 40 or 50 planes at any time, he said.
    Miller, who was formerly a lieutenant in the air corps of the regular army, resigned a number of years ago to pilot the private plane of Mr. Packard of the automobile industry. He later re-enlisted in the army, in the air corps.
    Besides being an able aviator, Officer Miller has over 30 medals he has won for expert rifle and pistol shooting.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 20, 1934, page 1


    The public must not expect cantonments to be built until the army is so increased that they will be needed, A. Evan Reames, Medford attorney and former U.S. Senator, stated today in a telegram to Glenn L. Jackson, president of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Senator Reames has been in Washington, D.C., for about 10 days looking after the interests of Medford and Jackson County in cantonment plans.
    Senator Reames confirmed that the army had selected Medford and Eugene for two of nine new cantonment sites. Actual construction of the  cantonments, however, depends upon congressional authority for enlarging the army and appropriation of the necessary funds, the Senator stated.
    The army has enough money at hand now, however, to proceed with surveys and the contracting of lands, Senator Reames said, indicating that advance preparations would be made without delay so that actual construction of the cantonment could start the moment it was authorized. This advance work begun last week when a temporary constructing quartermaster's office was set up in the armory.
    Senator Reames said he planned to leave Washington for Medford tonight if he could get plane reservations.
    Mayor H. S. Deuel spoke highly of the work done for Medford and all of Southern Oregon by Senator Reames while in Washington on the present mission pertaining to establishment of a cantonment.
    "Senator Reames, always ready to serve his community, dropped his own work and flew to Washington to be of assistance to Medford, Jackson County and the army," Mayor Deuel said.
    "He has ever been ready to help in the progress and development of Medford and Southern Oregon, and his accomplishments are many. But none, I think, has been of such vast importance as his present accomplishment regarding the cantonment, for not only are Medford and all of Jackson County concerned in this, but the entire nation. The proposed camp is part of national defense plans, and in these Senator Reames has performed a lasting service."
    Mr. Jackson said:
    "Senator Reames has performed an invaluable service for the community in bringing about the designation of Medford as a cantonment site area.
    "While we are all aware of the headaches that may go along with the constructing of the cantonment at Medford, we must realize that there has been an increasing trend toward concentration of business activity in areas where large defense contracts have been let by the federal government.
    "The only possibility of economic stimulation of communities like Medford during this war period would necessarily be something of this kind.
    "The Senator is entitled to the gratitude of the community for the fine job he has done."
Medford Mail Tribune, May 14, 1941, page 1


    Myron Hunt, prominent Los Angeles architect of the famed firm of Myron Hunt and H. C. Chambers, arrived here today to put the proposed Medford army cantonment on paper. Also here today on the same mission was Harold I. Wood of the equally prominent San Francisco civil engineering firm of Blackie and Wood.
    The two firms will be associated in the planning of the proposed cantonment, and while the government has not yet signed the necessary contract, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood will proceed with the blueprinting of the entire project. The plans and specifications will be drawn up so that they can be submitted to bidders on a lump sum basis if and when actual construction of the proposed cantonment is sanctioned, said Capt. Theron W. Bean, in charge of the constructing quartermaster's office the army set up in the Medford armory last week. .
    With the approval of Captain Bean, who attended an interview the Mail Tribune had this afternoon with Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood, the architect and engineer briefly sketched their work here. It was emphasized throughout the conversation that the architect's contract had not yet been signed, that erection of the cantonment depended upon army expansion and congressional appropriation of funds, that the drawings would be 80 percent good at any other site should geological  difficulties or land acquisition obstacles arise and that no construction, even if everything else worked out smoothly, could be started in less than 120 days from now. It will take about three months to put the project on paper, Mr. Hunt said.
    Mr. Hunt said that he and Mr. Wood had about 50 persons, experienced in cantonment work, signed up from their own organizations, that all department key men were employed and would be arriving in the next few days. Some field men, if qualified, would be employed locally, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood said. At the peak perhaps as many as 140 to 150 men will be employed on the planning project, they stated. All of the key positions will be filled by experienced men working for the Wood and Hunt firms, they asserted.
    Offices are being established in the Medford armory, where all the paper work will be done.
    Mr. Hunt has just completed work on Camp Callen and Fort Rosecrans in San Diego County, Cal. Both the Hunt and Wood firms have numerous world-famous jobs to their credit.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 15, 1941, page 1


    There might be a few "bottlenecks" to widen, but prospects seem favorable for the construction of a 35,000-troop cantonment in the Medford area, A. Evan Reames, Medford attorney and former U.S. Senator, said upon his arrival this forenoon by United Mainliner from Washington, D.C., with Mrs. Reames.
    Senator Reames, who went to Washington to look out for the interests of Medford and Jackson County in cantonment planning, and Mrs. Reames were greeted by city, county and Jackson County Chamber of Commerce officials and personal friends upon their arrival at the municipal airport.
    Asked about concern felt in some parts of the country about assertedly excessive prices asked for land the government needs in the present world emergency, Senator Reames waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. "No one here is going to hold up defense preparations in an effort to secure a few extra dollars," he said. "This is a patriotic move, and we all view these defense preparations in the spirit of patriotism. No one need worry about excessive prices. People of Oregon are truly patriotic."
    Senator Reames pointed out again that although Medford has been designated as a cantonment site and advance planning and surveying have begun, actual construction of the cantonment is dependent upon congressional action to increase the army and appropriate the necessary funds. He added, however, that he feels certain that the army will be increased in the immediate future and that Congress will appropriate whatever money is needed to prepare this nation for any contingency.
    The Senator and Mrs. Reames looked in extremely good health after their visit in the nation's capital. They received a warm welcome back to Medford.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 15, 1941, page 1


    (Editor's note: John W. Kelly, whose column from Washington. D.C., appears regularly in the Mail Tribune, today gives some interesting figures on the magnitude of the proposed Medford cantonment. While the outlay for supplies will be tremendous, it is pointed out by army officers here that practically all food, etc., will be purchased in vast quantities on bids, and that local firms, because of limited facilities, will enjoy little or none of such business.)
    Washington, D.C., May 21.--Approximately $35,000,000 will be invested in Western Oregon by the War Department in the two cantonments, one at Medford and the other at Eugene. In making this announcement the War Department very belatedly confirms the prediction first made in this space many months ago and which the high command repeatedly denied. The prediction that a cantonment will go to Eastern Washington is yet unfulfilled, but the "dope" on that is as authentic as on the projects in Oregon west of the Cascades.
    Under the army estimates, it is calculated that the cost of a cantonment is $500 per man. (There are many cantonments recently built or now being constructed the cost of which runs $700 per man, and at one place almost $2000.) On the $500-per-man basis Medford's military camp will represent an investment of $17,000,000. The same cost at Eugene. This is the original investment for barracks, mess halls, administration hall, sewers, water, lights (later a hospital of about 400 beds) and roadways.
    With 35,000 men in each cantonment it means a payroll of substantial importance. The 70,000 men will represent better than $1,500,000 a month; say about $800,000 per camp. This is the payroll alone, and troopers spend their money. It costs approximately 50 cents a day to feed a soldier, or for the two camps the quartermaster department will spend $35,000 a day or $1,050,000 each month the troops are at the cantonments. On a per year basis (period of training) the grocery bill will run in the neighborhood of $12,600,000.
    Regulations call for furnishing one-half pint of milk to every man each day. This means 8,750 quarts each for Medford and Eugene; total, 17,400 quarts or 4,350 gallons every 24 hours for both camps. Milk sheds of the Willamette and Rogue River valleys will be drained to furnish this new amount of consumption. When possible, troops receive one apple or one pear a day (sometimes a peach or grapefruit), which will provide a market for Oregon fruit, particularly that of the Rogue River Valley, site of the Medford cantonment. Vegetables and meat must be bought, and when possible the local market is patronized.
    An important responsibility devolves upon citizens of Eugene and Medford and nearby communities. This is in providing amusement for the troops. Many soldiers will visit Portland to have a fling; many others will not go so far. Someone proposes that the town of Central Point be taken over and made into a rest camp for the troops, with movies, taverns, etc.
    And before a contract is awarded or even an appropriation made by Congress for these cantonments, a group has started a campaign against "sin," meaning hard liquor and members of "Mrs. Warren's profession." Incidentally, it should be mentioned that several chaplains will be with the soldiers at the cantonments and there will be several chapels.
    Either cantonment will have a larger population than 29 of Oregon's 36 counties. Only Portland will have a population in excess of these camps, for the second city in Oregon is Salem with census population of 30,908, or 4000 fewer people than will be in the Eugene or Medford establishment. Jackson County is barely larger than the proposed cantonment, the county being credited with 36,213 in last year's census figures. The camp will double the population of the county (with camp followers) and will triple the population of Medford, if the cantonment can be regarded as in the metropolitan area. The Eugene camp will be only 50 percent of Lane County population but will be 15,000 larger than Eugene.
    Roughly, the two cantonments will mean $30,240,000 a year new money to those communities, plus the capital investment of $35,000,000 in cantonments.
    Selection of Medford and Eugene was partly political. War Department saw on its map that there was no project west of the Cascades. A great base for the army air corps is building in Pendleton; a munitions depot is under construction at Hermiston; a bombing range has been acquired east of Arlington; Portland has an army air station, but there was a perfect blank on the ocean side of the Cascade Mountains. The planning board spotted Medford and Eugene for new developments when the army is increased and money is available, but the brass hats of War Department were unaware of these preparations.
    Meanwhile officials and public-spirited citizens quietly obtained options on tracts of land for the department, preventing any attempt at a holdup. There may be some difficulty in obtaining funds for clearing the bottleneck on the Pacific Highway for military purposes between Grants Pass and Eugene, subject to revision now with cantonments decided upon at Medford and Eugene.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 21, 1941, page 1


    MEDFORD, May 28.--A control committee, composed of J. B. Coleman, county judge; H. S Deuel, mayor of Medford, and Glenn Jackson, president of the Chamber of Commerce, to handle all matters affecting the public that grow out of establishment of the proposed army cantonment here, was named at a meeting of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and public officials.
    The committee will select a secretary-director who will be paid jointly by the city, county and Chamber of Commerce. All public and civic problems arising will clear through the committec, according to the outlined plan, thus avoiding duplicated public effort in handling the expected problems.
Oregon Journal, Portland, May 28, 1941, page 9


    Just now it appears that there is a strong probability that an army cantonment is going to be built in our immediate neighborhood in the very near future. It seems that the site has been definitely selected--at least roughly. The men who are doing that selecting seem to have a hard time making up their minds just where to draw the line as to the boundary of the big camp. But one thing is sure--if things in Europe do not get better right soon, this country is going to enlarge the army, and when that happens, the cantonment in this country will be among the first to be built.
    So far as the writer can learn, here is a rough outline of the  site as of today (Tuesday p.m.): The GHQ will be located just east of the Crater Lake Highway at the point where the highway comes closest to the railroad. The main camp will lie both east and west of headquarters. The cantonment will take in practically all of Antelope Valley as far south as Grizzly Peak. From there it is proposed to run the line eastward beyond the Lost Lake country, crossing the south fork of Little Butte Creek above Dead Indian Soda Springs down the divide between the south fork and north fork of Little Butte to the vicinity of the Lake Creek store and thence back into the Antelope Valley. That, roughly, is the proposed eastern part of the big camp.
    The northern part will include a strip at the mouth of Little Butte Creek, where a bridge will be built. From there the camp will take in most of the Beagle district as far as Evans Creek. And if you don't think that means a lot of country, just try hiking over it someday. It is bigger than most countries in Europe. But don't put too much faith in this statement of the outlines of the proposed camp. It may have been changed since we left town--those folks beat the Dutch for changing their minds.
    Last Sunday the state highway commission met with the army men in Medford and went over part of the proposed site. They will have a big job on their hands putting the Crater Lake Highway into shape to carry the enormous traffic to and from camp. Also the county is faced with a bit of trouble in putting several of the county roads in like shape. Just which ones will be considered "access roads" we don't know yet. And it is thought that Congress will have passed the national defense road program before the time comes we need the money, and federal funds will be available for all these roads.
    But the most stupendous problems facing the people of this county is the matter of providing housing for the hordes of workmen who will be brought here to build the camp. Army officials estimate the number of these at about 8000. And they prophesy that we will have to take care of at least 1000 trailer houses brought by these men. This means proper sanitary provisions, lighting, water, etc. And on top of that, when the army moves in our cities will face a dwelling house shortage of some 5000 houses. Just try that on your jew's harp.
    And we wonder if the people of Central Point realize that if the cantonment does come--and President Roosevelt's fireside chat makes one even more certain that it WILL come and that right soon--a lot of things will have to be done right here at home. According to the chief architect who is drawing the plans for the cantonment (and who, by the way, has built a number of other such camps in other parts of the United States) there will come with the 30,000 men and 1000 officers somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 to 15,000 civilians who must be housed in surrounding towns. That means some four or five thousand new houses in the Rogue River Valley. Which also means that the population of this city will be doubled. Which again means plenty of headaches for the council in their job of providing water, sewers, street maintenance, police, and the like.
Arthur Edward Powell, "Musings by the Editor," Central Point American, May 29, 1941, page 1


    The army cantonment coordinating committee this afternoon announced employment of Frank J. Van Dyke, Ashland attorney, as coordinator to carry out the actual work in finding solutions to the numerous problems establishment of the proposed camp is expected to create.
    Mr. Van Dyke will also act as a sort of liaison officer between the army executives working on the cantonment plans and the civilian interests represented by the coordinating committee which consists of County Judge J. B. Coleman, Mayor H. S. Deuel and Glenn L. Jackson, president of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce.
    One of the first jobs facing Mr. Van Dyke is to carry out the actual work of solving the problems to arise from the influx of camp construction workers, the committee said. Mr. Van Dyke will begin his work tomorrow and will have his office in the armory, where the construction quartermaster and architect and engineering staffs are housed.
    Mr. Van Dyke will continue his private law practice in Ashland and as Ashland city attorney, he said, but will give the major part of his time to his new job. He is a graduate of Medford High School and Willamette University law school. He has been practicing law since 1932 and has resided in Ashland since 1933 when he became city attorney. He is a director and past president of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Ashland school board. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Van Dyke of Route 4.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 11, 1941, page 1


    Washington, D.C., June 21.--Within a brief time the War Department will be in the market for 1,500,000,000 feet of lumber, to be used in the construction of cantonments. This is one reason why officials have been anxious to have all go well in the forests and sawmills of the Pacific Northwest, for a large percentage of the lumber will be Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine. Before the lumber is required, however, Congress must authorize increase of the army to about 2,000,000 men and officers and appropriate the money for construction of the cantonments. These matters will come in due time, but the communities, having "Indian information" that they have been selected as sites. can scarcely wait.
    Contemplated cantonments in Oregon are all located in neighborhoods surrounded by timber and sawmills, but the way things are run by the army the lumber used may come from hundreds of miles away. One of the important officers in charge of part of the construction program says it is foolish and not businesslike. It is like the house-that-Jack-built, he says. First a cantonment is required for 35,000 troops. To build it dwellings must be built for thousands of carpenters, graders and what have you to do the work. But to provide shelter for the carpenters and other who are to build the cantonment thousands of men must be employed, and so on and so forth. "Screwy," is the way this higher official describes the arrangement.
    When and if the cantonments are built they will be on competitive bids and not on the cost-plus fixed-fee basis, the War Department thinks; but Congress is opposed to competitive bids, regards the cost-plus fixed-fee as a quicker method.
John W. Kelly, "Kelly's Comment from Washington," Medford Mail Tribune, June 22, 1941, page 1


    The architect for the proposed army cantonment here is under contract to have the plans ready so that construction can be started by October 1. The plans will be ready before that date, and it is hoped to have the first contingent of soldiers in the camp by November, with more to arrive in December and the post to be filled by January. The positive statements, without any "as, if and when" qualifications, were made last night by Myron Hunt, cantonment architect, at a meeting sponsored by the Jackson County League of Women Voters in the county courthouse auditorium.
    The information was brought out under a barrage of questions from the women in the audience, who brushed aside all verbal skirmishing and asked such point-blank questions as: "When will work on the cantonment start?" "When will the boys start arriving?" "How will the huge quantities of supplies needed by the soldiers be transported to the camp?" "What about hospital facilities?" "How and where will the large quantities of foodstuffs be preserved?"
    It was the first time that any positive information was given out on a number of points. Heretofore, for example, it had been emphasized the cantonment construction was dependent upon congressional appropriation and enlargement of the army, and arrival of soldiers, of course, depended upon erection of the camp.
    Mrs. Hunt, who spoke on the social aspects of military camps, was equally positive. Her first statement was: "The cantonment is going to arrive."
    The cantonment is being planned for 35,000 soldiers, Mr. Hunt said, though other figures he gave indicated that the actual number occupying the camp would be around 30,000. Half the troops will be quartered east of Crater Lake Highway and half west of the highway, he related. There will be four miles of buildings, the ordinary space between them being 50 feet, with occasional firebreaks, he stated.
    A military bridge is to be constructed across the Rogue River about a mile east of the Bybee bridge, so that cannon and lorries can get across the stream safely, Mr. Hunt said, adding that pontoon bridges also were to be built.
    In reply to a question about transportation, after he had said that a camp of 20,000 men uses 40 carloads of materials a day, Mr. Hunt stated that the railroad to the camp site (the Medford Corporation logging railroad), would have to be rebuilt.
    Replying to the question about the preservation of foodstuffs, the architect said a huge cold storage plant would be built at the camp and there "will be a laundry and a bakery big enough to make your eyes bulge." There will be 36 warehouses, each about 60 by 120 or 130 feet in dimensions, he added.
    Mr. Hunt said the army invariably "starves" its camp hospital facilities at the beginning, but he was hopeful enough additional funds would be appropriated within a year for a 1500-bed hospital. As now planned it is a 1200-bed hospital. The one-story hospital plant now planned will be 1500 by 2000 feet in dimensions, he related. He stated that a study was being made now to determine whether government aid could be obtained in financing expansion of hospitals in Medford and nearby towns to take care of the needs of the families of officers and soldiers and other civilians who will come here to live.
    Asked what the camp buildings would be built of, Mr. Hunt replied quickly: "Oregon pine," and then amended it to "Douglas fir."
    A question about the army's method of buying supplies brought the answer that with such large-scale buying, bids are ordinarily asked for once a month.
    "You can't sell from your back yard to an army camp," Mr. Hunt said. "This is wholesale business." He advised persons with produce to sell to organize a selling organization to embrace the entire Rogue River Valley and other valleys of Southern Oregon.
    With 30,000 men in camp, there will be throughout the county roughly an additional 15,000, relatives of the men, camp followers and others attracted here by the cantonment, Mr. Hunt said.
    The community's problem will come next fall with construction of the camp and the influx of camp workers and hangers-on, said Mr. Hunt, who has designed two California camps and speaks from experience. When the army moves in and takes over the camp, everything will be stabilized, he explained.
    Mr. Hunt spoke of meeting Col. F. L. TouVelle while he was looking over the land for possible bridge construction at the TouVelle property on the Rogue River. After asking Mr. Hunt what he had in mind, Col. TouVelle said of his land: "Don't take more than you need, but take what you want," the architect related. "It's a pleasure to meet such a man," Mr. Hunt added.
    In a talk punctuated with keen wit, Mrs. Hunt advised residents here to afford the soldier boys every opportunity for wholesome recreation. "Remember," she said, "they are your boys, for if your boys are not at this particular camp they will be at similar camps." She gave advice from experience on how best to be of service to the boys, and she urged that steps be taken immediately to prepare for arrival of the youths at the camp here.
    The auditorium was filled to capacity and the audience seemed alert and eager to receive the information that Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had to impart. Mrs. Leonard Carpenter, president of the league's county unit, presided.
    Mrs. Carpenter called attention of the audience to the league's campaign to arouse the interest of the public in the "battle of production." In this emergency, Mrs. Carpenter said, "we should put the good of our country above every other consideration."
Medford Mail Tribune, June 24, 1941, page 1


    How to pronounce "cantonment" was definitely settled once and for all at the Jackson County League of Women Voters meeting last night.
    After saying "We have looked it up," Mrs. Myron Hunt, wife of the camp architect, pronounced it "can-tone-ment." A little later Mr. Hunt, looking daggers at his wife, pointedly pronounced it it "can-tahn-ment." And to clarify the matter Mrs. Leonard Carpenter, presiding, pronounced it "can-toon-ment."
Medford Mail Tribune, June 24, 1941, page 

    SAN FRANCISCO, June 27.--(UP)--The army Ninth Zone constructing quartermaster today announced field surveys have started on the proposed army cantonment in the Rogue River Valley north of Medford, Or.
    "It is impossible to predict when construction will begin. The army is merely studying the project. Beyond that nothing definite can be said," the announcement said.
    Captain C. M. Clifford, zone executive officer, said field surveys are 30 percent complete, and preliminary investigations at the site are from 35 to 65 percent complete.
    Captain Clifford said that on May 21 a fixed-fee contract was signed with an architect-engineer to conduct necessary preliminary investigations concerning camp layout, water supply, sewage disposal, power and fuel, road and railroad layouts.
    The cantonment, under present plans, would accommodate about 30,000 men and cost approximately $22,800,000. Advance funds of $153,000 were earmarked for the project, Captain Clifford said.
Clifford said 122 persons are now employed in the architect-engineer's office handling the survey.
    "According to the terms of the contract, the architect-engineer will complete his study on or before three months from May 21, 1941. Only after all plans and specifications have been subjected to rigid scrutiny will any decisions be announced.
    "It is only natural that such a project should arouse so much interest. However, it is well to caution the community against becoming too positive about the future."
Oregon Journal, Portland, June 27, 1941, page 4


To the Editor:
     I am a visitor here. Came up to see about that reported army cantonment. What's the matter with your newspapers in Oregon? If there is to be a cantonment near Medford why don't you say so; if there isn't why don't you say that? You can't tell me after all this publicity that no one knows whether this camp is to be built or not. It makes a lot of difference to me, and I should think it would to your town. And yet no one knows anything about it--or they pretend not to. What's the big idea--why all the secrecy? You are supposed to give your community news. Why don't you give it?
    Just a minute, stranger, just a minute!
    The Mail Tribune has been trying for two months to get official and definite news regarding the projected cantonment, and none has been available.
    This effort has included persistent inquiry by a special representative of the Mail Tribune in Washington, D.C.; constant contact with army and civilian officials here preparing the preliminary plans; and a high-powered and permanent liaison with the dynamic and omniscient chief executive of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce!
    But if there is any more definite news than the Mail Tribune has already printed, then we would thank our somewhat irritated communicant--or anyone else--to present some evidence of it.
    Our own belief is the answer can't be found in this country because it is in Europe. It may be in the process of formulation indeed along Germany's eastern front at the present time.
    For, as we see it, if the Russian war reports are "all wool and a yard wide" then there IS a chance the Medford cantonment will never be built. Yes, if Moscow is telling the truth--or say 65% of the truth--Hitler has already lost over a million men and is now losing them at the rate of about a hundred thousand a day. At that tempo Germany may well be completely smashed before Labor Day, and World War No. 2 will be over.
    In which event there will be no need for training a larger U.S. army than we have already, and therefore no need for the Medford cantonment, nor for the proposed ones at Eugene or Corvallis.
    On the other hand, this is the ONLY development we can foresee which would definitely remove the local army camp from the field of ultimate certainty, i.e., a prompt and overwhelming allied victory.
    So all we can say to our itinerant correspondent, is: "What do YOU think?" His opinion is as good as the next man's.
    Those who think there is any probability of a complete allied victory in the very near future better not bank very heavily on the construction of the Medford cantonment.
    Those who don't--and particularly those who think Germany MIGHT win--would be justified, we believe, in banking on the ultimate construction of the cantonment, up to say 50% of their maximum credit rating.
    Those who are convinced this is going to be a long war--a very long one--well, they can go the limit as far as we are concerned.
    But to those who not only must LOOK, but must positively KNOW before they leap, there is only one thing to do--wait until they can know.
    And they CAN'T KNOW until Congress does and the necessary cash is appropriated.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 17, 1941, page 6

    Maj.-Gen. Ernest D. Peek, commanding general of the 9th Corps area, was expected to confer this afternoon with Maj. Irvin A. Robinson, commander of the Medford CCC district, upon the general's return from Crater Lake National Park, whither he went last evening with his aide, Col. S. H. Negrotto. It was thought that General Peek would depart by train this evening for his headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco.
    As commanding general of the 9th Corps area, General Peek has jurisdiction over all the CCC districts in the western states. District headquarters here were notified by mail by the general this week that the Medford district was to be absorbed by the Vancouver Barracks, Wash., district.
    General Peek and several other officers came here to inspect the site of the proposed Beagle-Antelope cantonment and the site plan. All expressed their approval of the site plan, but modified some of the proposed camp boundaries in such manner as to effect a reduction in the total area which the War Department is considering in its planning, said Capt. Theron W. Bean, constructing quartermaster.
    The inspecting high-ranking officers also emphasized again that no funds were yet available for actual cantonment construction, nor had any authority yet been granted for actual construction, Capt. Bean said. They also were quoted as declaring that no funds were yet available for land acquisition and that no steps other than preliminary appraising had yet been taken for either purchase or lease of any land.
    General Peek and his aide arrived by train yesterday forenoon, others having already arrived for the inspection. Others in the inspecting party, all of whom left last evening for Marysville, Cal., were Col. E. M. George, Zone 9, constructing quartermaster, C. L. Coray, Zone 9 principal engineer; Col. Edmond H. Leavey, from the quartermaster general's office, Washington, D.C., and Maj. Gerald R. Tyler, cantonment officer from the quartermaster general's office.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 14, 1941, page 1


    If plans are not carried out in advance to take care of the horde of workers required, Medford and the whole of Jackson County will be submerged in confusion, lack of housing and sanitary facilities and inflated prices should the proposed army cantonment in the Beagle-Antelope district be authorized.
    This warning came today from Mrs. Nellie Fulton, former local resident, who now makes her home in Berkeley, Cal. Mrs. Fulton owns a 10-acre piece of property on Crater Lake Highway, 15 miles out of Medford, which she plans to convert into a trailer camp if the cantonment becomes a reality, she related. Don & Bette's place, a service station and grocery, occupies part of the property, the business having been leased by Mrs. Fulton to the present operators.
    Mrs. Fulton said she has seen the effects of an army cantonment on a number of California cities and she has gleaned other general information from her nephew, Don Hartford, a major in the army who is stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco and is engaged in cantonment construction on the West Coast.
    "Once the authorization is given, army cantonments go up so fast and so many thousands of workers swarm to the jobs that unless something is done beforehand, Medford's head is going to swim when and if the proposed camp is started here," she said.
    "It's hard to conceive the magnitude of these jobs," Mrs. Fulton emphasized. California cities near new camps have been swamped, she asserted, adding that accommodations and even parking space couldn't be found 30 miles from camp sites. For miles around trailer camps and tent colonies spring up, she stated.
    Mrs. Fulton counseled Medford and the county to do something now before the cantonment hordes swarm into the city.
    (Editor's Note: For months the civilian cantonment coordinating board has been at work planning to meet the very problems Mrs. Fulton outlined. Dozens of representatives of various federal agencies which have appropriations to protect communities in defense areas so far as civic needs are concerned have come here to help formulate plans for housing, schooling, recreation, sanitation, water supplies, etc., but apparently none of the agencies has authority to take any definite action until the proposed cantonment is authorized. By then, it is generally agreed, it will be too late, and because of this the coordinating board is known to be gravely concerned over the outlook.)
Medford Mail Tribune, September 12, 1941, page 3


    Washington, D.C., Sept. 24.--There is a whisper circulating that if the Japanese situation simmers down and the Mikado gives assurance that his military men will be restrained in the future, a very decided change will take place in the defense preparations of the Pacific Northwest; that these preparations will be frozen. As is common knowledge, the defense which the army and navy have been, and are, installing from Alaska, through Washington, Oregon and California has been primarily undertaken in anticipation of a warlike move by Japan. Some there are who assert that the entire program on the West Coast has been a bluff; something to impress Japan and show that the United States can "go to town" if necessary.
    It is hinted that, provided Japan ceases its belligerent attitude, there will be no occasion to spend additional millions in the construction of cantonments, air bases, etc., as the incentive to build such defense will have vanished, but that similar defenses on the Atlantic Coast will be strengthened, as will those bases in the Caribbean.
John W. Kelly, "Kelly's Comment from Washington," Medford Mail Tribune, September 24, 1941, page 1


    Most of the population is getting a good lesson in patience, waiting for their cantonment to come in.
Arthur Perry, "Ye Smudge Pot," Medford Mail Tribune, September 7, 1941, page 8


    MEDFORD, Oct. 11.--Interest in the proposed army cantonment on the Beagle-Antelope area was revived here Thursday with announcement that L. H. Hoffman, head of the Portland building firm of that name, was conferring with Captain Theron W. Bean, constructing quartermaster, and heads of the architect-engineering staff regarding construction phases of the cantonment.
    Representatives of Ross Hammond company and Nat McDougall company, Portland, conferred with Captain Bean and Lieutenant Theodore H. Ebbert Wednesday.
    Captain Bean reported that changes in the drawings still are coming from Washington.
Oregon Journal, Portland, October 11, 1941, page 7


    Portland, Ore., Nov. 24.--(AP)--Maj. Gen. George A. White, 60, nationally known fiction writer and commander of the 41st division, died at his Camp Clackamas home near here last night.
    He had remained on duty at Fort Lewis, Wash., until a few weeks ago, despite a stomach ailment that had afflicted him since summer.
    A former Salt Lake City and Portland newspaperman, he was a prolific fiction writer. Articles under the name Ared White appeared in a number of nationally circulated magazines, the best known probably being "Attack on America," picturing the possibility of an invasion of the U.S. West Coast.
    Born in Long Branch, Ill., he moved with his parents to Salt Lake City when 7 years old, and became a reporter there when 16.
    He volunteered in the Spanish-American War as a bugler, but resumed his newspaper career afterwards. In 1915 he resigned as Sunday editor of the Portland Oregonian to become adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard.
    In 1916 White was captain of a cavalry troop on Mexican border service. He became a major in the 41st division when the U.S. entered the World War, and emerged as a colonel on the staff of General Pershing, AEF commander.
    He reorganized the Oregon National Guard after the war, becoming a brigadier general in 1923. In 1929 he was named major general and commander of the 41st division, composed of National Guardsmen from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
    One of the founders of the American Legion, he was awarded the French cross of the Legion of Honor in 1934.
    The widow, a daughter and a brother survive.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 24, 1941, page 1


    MEDFORD, Dec. 2.--Byron Hunt, architect, and Harold I. Wood, engineer of the firm of Hunt & Chambers-Blackie & Wood, architect engineers, will complete their work on the proposed army cantonment here Tuesday, Captain Theron W. Bean, constructing quartermaster, said Monday. The two men have been here since May.
    Thomas A. Scadden, Zone Nine insurance examiner, San Francisco, Saturday completed his examination of the architect engineer's insurance accounts.
    Wood said he might return to Medford if construction of the cantonment is authorized, as the government has an option on the services of the architect-engineer on the building job.
    During the advance planning of the camp the architect-engineer's staff comprised 153 persons at the maximum period.
Oregon Journal, Portland, December 2, 1941, page 7


    Washington, Dec. 4.--(AP)--General George C. Marshall, chief of staff, told the house appropriations committee that there were no immediate prospects for establishing additional army cantonments.
    His statement was made in recent committee hearings on the new $8,000,000,000 defense bill and were made public with introduction of the bill yesterday. General Marshall added that extensive site surveys had been made so the army would be prepared if forced to move suddenly into another construction program.
    Medford Armory took on a feverish activity this afternoon as final shipments were made ready preparatory to closing out the proposed army cantonment engineering office, which has been transferred to the San Francisco Zone 9 office. The office here was to be closed at the end of today's business.
    The transfer to San Francisco involved packing and shipping in 72 hours $48,000 worth of survey and drafting equipment and office furniture, supplies and equipment. There was enough drafting equipment for 170 men. About a third of the $48,000 worth was bought here.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 4, 1941, page 1


    San Francisco, Dec. 12.--(AP)--Lieut.-Colonel Harold D. Stetson, Ninth Corps area assistant constructing quartermaster, announced today he had received approval from Washington for construction of three major cantonments in the West.
    Preliminary plans and engineering specifications for the camps--at Marysville, Calif., and Medford and Corvallis, Ore.--already had been drawn up.
    Each cantonment will house 33,000 soldiers.
    Colonel Stetson made the announcement to a convention of contractors.
    Months and months of work, pleading, conferring, drawing up surveys and preparing briefs culminated today in success for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and city and county officials with the granting of authorization for construction of an army cantonment here.
    Almost a year ago, when hints were received here that the army was interested in studying sites for new camps, the chamber of commerce swung into action, made a survey of available land in the Beagle-Antelope district, sent the data to the War Department and invited the army to come and have a look.
    Army officers did come and have a look. They came for look after look, but they were always noncommittal. Their attitude did not discourage the chamber of commerce and its dynamic president, Glenn L. Jackson.
    Each time the army showed even only passing interest, Mr. Jackson and his associates redoubled their efforts and set to work on additional briefs, surveys and arguments in favor of Medford's sites.
    When army officials did show some interest in Southern Oregon as a site for a cantonment, the chamber of commerce went to work in earnest. Enlisting the active cooperation of city and county officials, the chamber sponsored formation of a committee to represent all interested parties. The group made a thorough study of the cantonment project, not overlooking the effect so gigantic an undertaking would have on community life, on the economic and social life of Jackson County and its cities.
    Early last May the county was electrified with the news that Capt. Theron W. Bean had arrived here from Vancouver Barracks, Wash., to establish a constructing quartermaster's office in the armory to engage in advance planning and preliminary surveys in a proposed cantonment in the Beagle-Antelope district.
    Then Myron Hunt, famed architect of Los Angeles, and Harold I. Wood, engineer of San Francisco, came here under contract to draw up advance plans and specifications. The constructing quartermaster and the architect-engineer took over practically the whole armory and for months worked rapidly on plans. During the early stages of this work, rumors were spread far and wide and a mild boom, especially in real estate, followed.
    A civilian coordination board under the direction of Frank Van Dyke of Ashland was organized to plan in advance for every possible problem a camp would create, morality, health, housing, schooling, sanitation, traffic. The board worked for months, got everything in readiness and then quit for the time being, awaiting word of construction authorization.
    Then came the letdown. The architect-engineer finished the advance planning and closed shop here, leaving Capt. Bean to carry on. On December 4, on War Department orders, the constructing quartermaster's office was moved to the Zone 9 constructing quartermaster's office in San Francisco. There was a sudden collapse in enthusiasm, as nearly everyone thought the move forecast the end of Medford's chances to procure a cantonment.
    But not Glenn Jackson. He hopped a train to Washington, D.C., to find out just what was happening. While he could procure no definite commitments, he did return with confidence that Medford would not be overlooked if the army should be enlarged. Confidently he called the cantonment civilian coordination board together this week to swing back into action to be fully prepared in case the camp should be authorized.
    Today the authorization came.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 12, 1941, page 1


    With construction of the proposed army cantonment here now apparently certain, it was expected that the civilian coordination board under Frank J. Van Dyke as coordinator would be re-established immediately in Medford.
    The office was temporarily given up a few weeks ago when the board had gone as far as it could with its advance planning. It was to have been reopened sometime next week but the word received here today from San Francisco will accelerate the reopening, it was stated.
    The board has a great many things to do to prepare for the changed conditions which the camp construction will bring about. First item of business probably will be a new and thorough housing survey to ascertain definitely how many houses and apartments are available here, first for workers and later for officer and noncommissioned officer personnel.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 12, 1941, page 1


    Frank J. Van Dyke, coordinator of the Medford cantonment civilian coordination board, will leave by train tonight for Portland to confer with the U.S. district engineer's office and various government agencies that have promised federal aid in case the proposed camp is constructed. Army officers expect authorization to be granted any day now.
    Construction work has been transferred from the quartermaster corps to the army engineers and so Mr. Van Dyke wants to establish contact with the district engineer in Portland. If the situation seems to warrant the trip, Mr. Van Dyke said he would continue to Seattle to consult other federal agencies on projects outlined for development in case the camp came here.
    Mr. Van Dyke will be accompanied by Mayor T. S. Wiley and George Green of Ashland, who will appear before the state highway commission in Portland regarding plans to take the curve out of the plaza section of Ashland.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 17, 1941, page 10


    MEDFORD, Dec. 24.--With the statement that he could give out no information about the proposed army cantonment in Medford, Captain Theron W. Bean, constructing quartermaster who handled preliminary planning for the camp here, reopened his offices in the Medford armory Monday. Captain Bean closed offices here on December 4, and all records and the staff were moved, mostly to San Francisco.
    Since the office was closed December 4, all construction work on the proposed cantonment has been transferred to the army engineers. Captain Bean said that any information about the proposed camp would have to clear through the Portland office of the Corps of Engineers.
Oregon Journal, Portland, December 24, 1941, page 17


    WASHINGTON, Jan. 7.--(AP)--The War Department today announced that a military cantonment would be started immediately at Medford, Or.
    The department would not amplify the announcement and withheld all details and estimates on cost, construction time and other phases of the work.
    The department did not mention the proposed cantonment in the Corvallis-Albany area.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 7, 1942, page 1


    SALEM, Jan. 14.--(AP)--W. H. Crawford, director of the Oregon Economic Council, sent letters today to Office of Production Management officials at Washington, D.C., asking that the contract for the new Medford army cantonment be awarded to an Oregon contractor.
    He also asked that contracts for lumber and other materials for the project be awarded to Oregon men.
    He said similar action would be taken if the Corvallis-Monmouth cantonment is approved. He said 30,000 soldiers would be stationed at Medford, and that 8000 workers would build it.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 14, 1942, page 7


    Calls for bids for construction of a United States army cantonment near Medford probably will be issued from the United States army engineers' office at Portland on January 19, Colonel Cecil R. Moore, division engineer, said Tuesday. Colonel Moore stressed that the date was tentative as is the date, February 9, for opening of bids.
    The War Department on January 7 officially announced that the cantonment, for which plans have long been in the making, would be constructed, but details of construction, size and other phases of the project were withheld. No official statement has been made as to plans for a cantonment in the Corvallis area.
Oregonian, Portland, January 14, 1942, page 11


    WASHINGTON, Jan. 14.--(Washington Bureau of The Journal).--Confirmation of reports that Medford has definitely been chosen as an army cantonment site was received by Senator McNary Tuesday. There were no details.
    It is assumed that construction will proceed along the lines formulated some time ago.
    The army is mum as to the projected site for a continment in the Corvallis-Albany area, which apparently is being held in abeyance.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 14, 1942, page 18


    Work is progressing rapidly on the field building being erected on the army cantonment site about eight miles from Medford off the Crater Lake Highway. The building, a frame structure, is being constructed by Marshall O. Bessonette. Because of a ban on military news, no details are available for publication.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 19, 1942, page 8


    MEDFORD, Jan. 21.--Construction apparently is progressing well here on the field building being erected at the United States army cantonment site about eight miles from Medford.
    The building, a frame structure, first to go up in the cantonment building program, is being constructed by Marshall O. Bessonette, local contractor.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 21, 1942, page 8


    First step in the acquisition of land for the new army cantonment at Medford was taken in federal district court here today with the filing of a condemnation suit for 5000 acres against Deane and Ellen Owens and 27 other individuals and corporations.
    Other suits will follow shortly, according to Bernard H. Ramsey, special assistant to the attorney general, who said the government will acquire a total of 40,000 acres for the military base.
    Originally allocated to the Medford area many months ago, the project apparently was neglected until the outbreak of war with Japan demanded immediate expansion of the army. The Medford cantonment is expected to house 30,000 men.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 28, 1942, page 1


    SALEM, Jan. 28.--(AP)--Data on the proposed eight-mile access road between the Medford cantonment and the main highway has been sent by State Highway Engineer R. H. Baldock to army officials, Baldock said Tuesday.
    When the army certifies the project, it will authorize Baldock to let the contract.
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 28, 1942, page 22


    The federal government filed condemnation suit in the United States district court here Wednesday looking to the acquisition of 5000 acres of land in Jackson County in connection with the army cantonment to be established near Medford.
    This was the first of a series of suits to be brought to acquire some 40,000 acres of land in that area for the cantonment to be known as Medford Triangular Division camp site, it was announced by Bernard H. Ramsey, special assistant attorney-general.
    The suit filed Wednesday named Deane and Ellen L. Owens, husband and wife, and 27 others as defendants.
Oregonian, Portland, January 29, 1942, page 9


    SALEM, Feb. 8.--(Special)--Housing looms as an outstanding problem in connection with the Medford army cantonment, now under construction, and the proposed Corvallis Monmouth cantonment, according to W. H. Crawford, director for the Oregon economic council, who returned here Sunday after conferring with cantonment committees at Medford and other Southern Oregon towns and cities.
    Crawford was accompanied on the tour by Folger Johnson, Portland, Oregon administrator for the Federal Housing Administration, and Fred A. Cuthbert, planning consultant for the economic council.
    Other problems include policing of the cantonment areas, prevention of roadside abuse, sanitation and providing sufficient water for domestic purposes. Crawford said that while the location of automobile trailer camps would receive attention of the various cantonment committees the sanitation problems would come under the state board of health.
    Providing housing facilities in the congested cantonment areas probably will be worked out through the federal government, Crawford declared. He predicted that many more houses would be required in the Medford area.
    Crawford said the cantonment committees particularly were interested in preventing roadside abuse through the construction of unsightly "hot dog" stands and other similar enterprises. It was suggested that centralized marketing facilities be established in the cantonment areas and that the trailer camp grounds be placed under rigid control.
    A Josephine County cantonment board was organized at Grants Pass, while a Lane County emergency board was created at Eugene. It was indicated that Josephine County eventually would be included in the federal defense area along with Jackson County.
    Policing of the cantonment areas will be under the state police department and local law enforcement agencies.
    Crawford will meet with the Corvallis cantonment committee Monday, the Albany cantonment committee Tuesday and will return to Eugene Wednesday.
    Construction operations on the Corvallis-Monmouth army cantonment will require approximately 8000 workers, Crawford was advised.
Oregonian, Portland, February 9, 1942, page 19


    MEDFORD, March 4.--An order barring cameras from Camp White and vicinity was issued Monday by Major Theron W. Bean from the office of the area engineer. The order read in part:
    "This announcement is made to prevent embarrassment to patriotic citizens who might inadvertently wish to take pictures of the present activities. No unauthorized cameras will be permitted on the reservation. Violations must be handled as provided by federal laws."
Oregon Journal, Portland, March 4, 1942, page 24


    The one-way traffic control plan necessitated by construction of Camp White will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
    The one-way system involves Crater Lake Highway, the Midway road and the Wellen road outside the city and Riverside Avenue, Central Avenue and Court Street inside the city.
    Office of the area engineer said that guards would be stationed at the important points of intersection to direct traffic over the out-of-town route until motorists became used to the change. Saturday night motorists were cautioned that the one-way system becomes effective one minute after midnight Saturday and were advised to travel with the greatest of care.
    In the city only northbound traffic will be permitted on Riverside Avenue (Pacific Highway) from the intersection of Riverside with Central Avenue to the north city limits. Only southbound traffic will be permitted on Court Street and Central Avenue from the north city limits to the function of Riverside and Central avenues.
    The city plan is in the nature of an experiment ordered by the state highway commission. If it works out satisfactorily, the commission will make improvements at the point where Court Street and Riverside Avenue meet.
    The map published on page 4 today shows how the traffic will flow under the one-way system in the cantonment area outside of town.
    New directional signs will help guide motorists over the one-way routes.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 6, 1942, page 1


    A cantonment can mean plenty of headaches for an unprepared city, as case histories the country over testify.
    You can't spill 15,000 to 35,000 men into a community, no matter how large, and expect there not to be problems, tough ones involving overcrowded schools, overworked city services, overtaxed recreational facilities, housing shortages.
    This is a story of how Medford, Southern Oregon's "Pear City," took steps to avoid the cantonment headaches of other communities. Down there, they believe in taking their "aspirin" first. Experience will tell how well they have planned. But this fact stands out: They've tried.
The first column of this article is unreadable, lost in the gutter of the binding.
…that a multi-million dollar package labeled "cantonment" is being unwrapped out northeast of Medford.
    How much of that package contains military ammunition no one knows, but it's a cinch every last dollar of it packs a wallop of social and economic dynamite for the surrounding communities. That is why Jackson County leaders are trying to have things ready when the "boom" hits.
    Long before the massive wheels of state had unwound appropriations for the Medford cantonment, forward-looking Southern Oregon citizenry began threshing out anticipated civilian problems. Housing, school, sanitation, recreation problems all were fed into the civic planning hopper, ground up in group discussions and passed on to organized committees and advisory boards for final scrutiny. Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, Eagle Point, Central Point, Gold Hill, Phoenix--every community expecting to "feel" the cantonment was called in to participate in the civilian preparations.
    Throughout the months of planning the painful example of Hermiston stuck out like a sore thumb, warning Jackson County officials which road to avoid. While Hermiston, population 803, was drowning in a sea of 5000 ordnance workers, its city officials shouting a frantic SOS to balky state and federal agencies, observers down in Medford were saving newspaper clippings of the debacle as grim reminders that "it mustn't happen here."
    And it won't; not if thorough community planning is the answer. For Jackson County is one place where local officials are determined not to be caught with their plans down.
    The story of community readiness begins back in May of last year. At that time no one knew for sure if the cantonment was coming, least of all when it might arrive. Yet May 26, 1941, a group of interested citizens met in Medford to lay the foundation for civilian action "if and when" the cantonment should come. Cornerstone of that meeting was the election of executive and advisory committees, each instructed to begin immediate preparations for the cantonment from a local welfare standpoint.
    The executive committee chosen that day included Mayor H. S. Deuel of Medford, County Judge Coleman and Glenn Jackson, president of the county chamber of commerce, each man representing city, county and business interests, respectively. The advisory committee consisted of technical and administrative experts representing highways, schools, water, recreation and sanitation.
    Exactly ten days later a caravan of Medford and Jackson County officials were headed for California. Purpose: an observation tour of Fort Ord and Camp Roberts, with special emphasis on the surrounding towns whose toes were being stepped on in the forward march of Uncle Sam's army.
    The visiting Oregonians gave the cantonments the once-over from stem to stern in their study of the economic, social and political problems accompanying army camps. The Jackson County note-takers took jottings on housing, schooling, sanitation facilities, merchandising, recreation and religious needs. as developed in the California towns bordering the huge cantonments, adding footnotes when they saw something needful of improvement.
    The cantonment inspectors arrived home in good spirits, briefcases bulging. "We are not at all perturbed over the ability of Medford and Jackson County to meet the problems brought about by construction of the cantonment and assignment of troops in this area," they stated. "Our investigations in the south revealed many problems, some rather serious, but none, however, beyond the capacity of the community to meet satisfactorily. On the other hand, as citizens we must...realize this is the greatest undertaking ever assumed in this community. Its ultimate benefit to the community depends on careful planning and timely action on the part of county, city and business people of this area."
    Suiting words to action, the committee on June 11 hired Frank J. Van Dyke, civilian coordinator, to direct effort on problems the cantonment would bring. Within five days the new coordinator had launched a housing survey accompanied by the request that residents, acting from patriotic motives, cooperate with the board in establishing fair and uniform rent rates. The latter plea is the only "weapon" the committee has in its struggle to maintain sane rent levels.
    Army officials, however, are apparently on the alert for profiteering in rents or other living costs, and are prepared to crack down. In a hearing before the homes registration committee in Medford February 12, an army spokesman cited two instances where rentals had skyrocketed, one from $30 to $60, another from $60 to $80; he also stated that when he arrived in Medford last spring, it cost 30 cents have an army shirt laundered, now the price was 45 cents, threatened to reach 50 cents. Driving his point home, the officer warned that if prices got too far out of line the entire community could be declared out of bounds--meaning army personnel would be barred from the area.
    The civilian coordinator's office has based housing plans for its wartime population on the expected influx of three groups: 9000 construction workers and their families, 3000 civilian cantonment personnel, several hundred executive army officers' families.
    Because they will be on hand only during the construction period, housing of a temporary sort is being planned for workers, while more permanent living quarters are being sought for the civilian and army cantonment personnel who remain for the "duration."
    Latest reports on housing indicate that many construction workers will roll into town in trailers. Accordingly, camps are being set up where the roaming houses can be tethered. Largest of the camps will be a non-profit-making project sponsored by the county, built with WPA labor, and located two miles from Medford on the Crater Lake Highway; it will have room for 500 trailers, with a possible expansion capacity of 1500. Privately operated camps will also be doing business. Workers who don't bring their own roof and four walls with them will have to scramble for whatever space they can find.
    Of the 3000 civilian cantonment personnel, about 1500 will want family accommodations. Anticipating this need, requests have been made to the defense housing coordinator for 1100 demountable houses. If granted, the federal funds will be administered according to local needs by the Jackson County housing authority, a group composed of members representing the Medford city council, the water commission, labor, and the county at large.
    Some Medford observers think the population influx will be smaller than first estimated, reasoning that the tire shortage may force workers to leave the family car, and hence the family, at home; that army regulations frown upon officers moving families with them during wartime; that labor unions, in sending out announcement of cantonment jobs, cautioned members that Medford housing conditions were too uncertain to risk bringing in families.
    Despite these factors, latest reports indicate Medford is already feeling a housing pinch. Furnished apartments and houses listed with the defense coordinator have been snapped up within a few days' time by cantonment people who came early to avoid the rush.
    Main job of the coordinator's office now is to cajole more Medford householders into renting spare rooms to incoming workers. Local property owners having houses for sale are being urged to rent their houses instead, until the emergency passes. A real estate expert working through the coordinator's office is kept busy advising inexperienced landlords on how to make the best and fairest use of properties they plan to rent.
    Meanwhile, local leaders keep their fingers crossed, hoping that when cantonment workers arrive in full force there will, somehow, be roofs enough to go round.
    Unlike houses, schools can be operated on a two-shift basis. That is what Jackson County school officials plan to do if confronted with two pupils for every desk. County School Superintendent C. R. Bowman thinks double-session classes may not be necessary if the incoming population is evenly distributed. If it isn't, schools taxed beyond their seating capacity will serve double duty, janitors and teachers doing extra stints without extra pay.
    "We feel we are performing a patriotic duty," says Superintendent Bowman, "in refusing to request federal funds for school buildings that would not be needed after the temporary population increase has passed."
    Fortunately, the acuteness of the school situation is softened by the fact that officials have only the next three months to plan for, since cantonment construction will have reached its peak before school doors open again next fall.
    More pressing than the problem of handling extra children during school hours is the problem of handling extra adults during play hours. From observations of both Hermiston and the California cantonment area, Jackson County leaders learned that adult recreation under crowded, abnormal conditions becomes a headache for all concerned: Playland too often becomes Play Hell.
    During Hermiston's beehive era there was 24-hour-a-day chaos simply because there were too many people looking around for entertainment. They not only had few places to go, but no room when they got there. Theaters, poolrooms, beer parlors, shooting galleries, dance halls--all bulged with more fun-seekers than they could comfortably hold; even streets were often too crowded for promenading; law and order officials were chronically out of breath chasing petty offenders.
    Cantonment-minded Jackson County people watched this recreation madhouse from afar, decided to make advance plans for their own leisure hour needs. Brunt of the recreation planning was turned over to Mrs. A. S. V. Carpenter, a Medford woman, who has been administering the job with dispatch.
    She first took inventory of all existing recreation facilities, found Medford boasting two golf courses, four theaters, three public dance halls, nine billiard halls and cardrooms, a natatorium, an ice arena and two bowling alleys; Ashland's fun capacity was found to be greater, with four swimming pools, a golf course, two lighted tennis courts, a large armory containing a bowling alley, skating rink and shooting gallery, a spacious city park equipped with outdoor play facilities, sundry theaters and dance halls.
    Mrs. Carpenter is confident that the facilities of these two towns, if used to full capacity, can serve a large share of the cantonment population. Thirteen thousand persons, she points out, could see a movie in one evening if every seat in every theater in Jackson County were filled for an early and late show; during the same evening other thousands could jitterbug in the dance halls, glide in Medford's ice arena, splash in Ashland's swimming pools, play tennis, bowl.
    Commercial facilities are not the only recreation outlet available. Ashland and Medford officials have agreed that school gyms, auditoriums, tennis courts and ball fields may be used by recreation-hungry cantonment people. Medford churches will keep social halls open several nights weekly.
    Hobby clubs are on the schedule for wives of construction men living in cramped trailer quarters; nurseries will be organized for trailer children. Mrs. Carpenter is also seeking to have a recreation hall and playground included in the large county trailer camp now under construction.
    By the time the 35,000 men in khaki arrive at the cantonment, Mrs. Carpenter believes special funds to be administered through the USO will be on hand.
    Because the cantonment will pour an $800,000-a-month payroll into the community, few Jackson County natives will fuss about over-full houses, crowded theaters and traffic jams. One group, however, will experience all of the cantonment's inconveniences without gleaning any of its profits. This is the 100 or so farm families who must abandon their homes to make way for the 55,000-acre military reservation.
    Toughest break for these families is the rapidly rising land prices which make it doubtful if any of them will find new farms equal in value to those being acquired by the government.
    Not one of the uprooted farmers is fighting the issue, however, though many express deep sorrow at having to leave the "old place."
    "We don't aim to hold up Uncle Sam," said one cheerful old-timer, who was born on Yankee Creek, has hunted, fished and farmed in that area ever since. "We've all got to help win this war," he reasoned, "and if Uncle Sam needs my place, I'm willing he should have it."
    There was a time, during past months, when Jackson County people--farm and townsfolk alike--registered feverish excitement at cantonment headlines flourishing in the local press. Now that the big camp is an imminent reality, a certain calm has supplanted the community's earlier exuberance. There is even modest restraint concerning the financial boom which the area will enjoy--sobering effects, perhaps, of the war.
    The Medford cantonment will doubtless prove a big mouthful, but Jackson County people think they can swallow it; and. if indigestion sets in, the community planners are confident they can find an antidote somewhere in the files.
Oregonian, Portland, March 8, 1942, page 49


    Here is another article by a prominent Oregon newspaper man on civilian defense activities in his home town.
    MEDFORD, March 31.--(AP)--Although the War Department's formal order for construction of the Medford cantonment was announced January 7, Medford and Jackson County officials are still wondering when the expected miles-long trailer house caravans will start wending down through the Siskiyou Mountain passes from California.
    Several thousand workmen are busy at Camp White, as the cantonment has been named, and business conditions in Medford have shown some improvement, but there is little of the "boomtown" atmosphere.
    To avoid confusion and dislocations accompanying cantonment and other defense installations in places where little preliminary preparation had been made, civil machinery was set up soon after the army first started planning the camp, early last May. Frank Van Dyke, Ashland attorney, was employed as coordinator, and committees went to work preparing for all contingencies, including housing, health, schools, recreation, traffic and employment.
    In addition to the civilian effort in connection with the cantonment, a complete organization for civil defense has been perfected by the Jackson County council of civil defense, of which Frank Hull of Medford is coordinator.
    Eagle Point, the little town nearest Camp White, has been forced to add one teacher to take care of an increase of approximately 130 pupils, but, according to County School Superintendent C. R. Bowman, other schools of the area have not yet been greatly taxed. The superintendent says plans are complete for starting the two-shift system in schools which become overcrowded.
    Medford's school system has absorbed approximately 100 new pupils, mostly in the lower grades, according to Superintendent E. H. Hedrick.
    Medford's water supply, piped from giant springs at the base of Mount McLoughlin, is being expanded to permit furnishing the cantonment. A third reservoir and residence water meters are included in the project.
    Furnished houses were gobbled up early in Medford and nearby towns, and but few unfurnished houses are available. Other types of lodgings are comfortably filled.
    Coordinator Van Dyke and other officials expect several thousand more workmen will be employed at the camp later, most of whom will live in bunkhouses now being built at the camp site. Growing restrictions on travel, opportunity for employment elsewhere and other factors, however, are expected to prevent any wild migration to the Medford area.
Oregon Journal, Portland, March 31, 1942, page 6


    The officers and their ladies of the Medford cantonment, and civilians of the area who have the price, will have a place in which to dine and dance due to the action of the Liquor Control Commission at its closing session Friday in reconsidering its prior refusal and granting a restaurant license to Chalker's Motel, on the road to Gold Hill, some seven miles from the nearest edge of the cantonment and not too far from Medford.
    The Rogue River Investment Company, Inc. had asked for the license some time ago and was turned down because the commission's investigation got a statement from army authorities that they didn't want it there, because for one thing it would create a traffic hazard, and there were other objections, including one from the sheriff.
    When the commission took up the rehearing, W. M. McAllister, the development company's attorney, laid out a letter of warm endorsement from the ranking officer of the cantonment, just as ardent a recommendation from the sheriff, the mayor of Medford and a lot of the town's business executives and bankers. Then the commission pulled its letters from the army and the sheriff and asked "how come" the sudden change. A checkup discovered that the army and the sheriff, in the first letters, were talking about a place some 15 miles in the opposite direction from Chalker's Motel. The commission granted the license without further argument.
    But Ashland's Lithia Hotel's "service bar" didn't fare so well. A. L. Snyder appeared before the commission, telling that he was about to invest $3000 in a cocktail lounge set up at the Lithia Hotel and wanted a license to mix 'em up with the folks who brought in their bottles. He was backed by a long list of the "business element," including the mayor, the chief of police and a lot of other folks. But he was bucked by a numerously signed petition circulated at church meetings and left in stores by the "church element." That gave the commission pauses, and it put off making up its mind until the May meeting.
Oregon Journal, Portland, April 18, 1942, page 3


Advertisement, Medford Mail Tribune, April 19, 1942, page 6


    To the Editor: I feel assured that the people will stand by me in requesting that a certain very large sign at the entrance to the Medford cantonment be immediately taken down or be changed to read differently.
    Such a sign is a travesty on the beauty, the liberty, the glory and the God-given freedom of our fair land. Could our great Statue of Liberty speak forth (even in wartimes), she would shame and scorn the thought of placing a sign that reads "Work Like Hell to Get This Job Done" before the eyes of noble, decent men and growing youth.
    Is that the kind of inspiration to give our men to win this war? It is not! What are we fighting for? Do we not have a higher purpose in victory? Can our nation expect God's help with such a slogan before our men?
    There are many fine, first-class men working at the Medford cantonment who would feel much better toward their employers if that sign were changed and changed very soon. "In God We Trust" is the banner on America's coins. Let's keep the devil and hell out of our slogans and off our signs. America is at war. America needs God now, if ever she needed his protection and guidance. America needs men on their knees as well as men on their toes.
Oregonian, Portland, June 17, 1942, page 10


    Major-General Charles H. Gerhardt arrived here Tuesday to assume command of the 91st Infantry Division at Camp White, and after a quick but thorough inspection of the army camp declared the "site is perfect" and expressed enthusiasm over the progress made thus far by the army engineers, contractors and workers.
    General Gerhardt praised the ranges on which the soldiers will receive training with the modern weapons of war, explaining that every type of gun can be fired without the lines of fire crossing. He was pleased by the proximity of Rogue River and grinned when informed of the salmon and steelhead abounding there.
    The assignment and arrival of General Gerhardt to command the 91st Infantry Division marked completion of army executive personnel for the operation of Camp White. General Gerhardt will be in charge of all phases of the actual training of the troops, while Colonel Owen R. Meredith, post commander, heads the staff in charge of living and recreational facilities.
    Although only 47 years old, General Gerhardt has had a colorful career in the army. Born in Lebanon, Tenn., the son of Brigadier-General Charles Gerhardt, on July 6, 1895, he was graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1917 and was immediately appointed a second-lieutenant of cavalry. When his regiment, including Troop "C," 3rd Cavalry, went overseas, he commanded the troop. His initial assignment in France was with remount troops.
    In June of 1918 he became aide-de-camp to Major General W. M. Wright and in August of the same year was assigned as assistant plans and training officer in the 89th Infantry Division. He was with the division through the St. Mihiel and Argonne offensives until the armistice. The division stayed in Germany for a time with the American army of occupation, and returned to France in time for the General to quarterback the 89th division football team. to the championship of the AEF.
    In January, 1920, he took command of Troop "A," 14th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Tex., after serving as assistant football coach at West Point in 1919 and the fall of 1920.
    From 1921 to 1923 General Gerhardt was a student at the cavalry school at Fort Riley, Kan. The latter part of this period he took the advanced equitation course, and stayed as equitation instructor from 1923 to 1925. From 1926 to 1931 he was tactical officer at West Point.
    General Gerhardt was a top-notch athlete while attending West Point, playing baseball, basketball, football and polo. From 1924 through 1930, after his graduation, he was a member of the U.S. army polo team which, in 1925, defeated the British army's polo team in London for the army championship. During this period the General carried a national rating of seven goals, only one other army polo player having ever been rated this high.
    From 1931 to 1933 he attended command and general staff school at Fort Leavenworth, Kan, and in 1933 and 1934 served with the 8th Cavalry, Fort Bliss, Tex., as squadron commander and regimental plans and training officer. In 1934, '35 and '36 he was in the Philippine department as assistant chief of staff for personnel. Returning to the United States, he served until 1940 with the 11th Cavalry at the Monterey, Cal., presidio, as regimental plans and training officer and regimental commander.
    The General was assigned to general headquarters from 1940 to 1941, and in 1941 and 1942 commanded both the 56th Cavalry brigade and the 2nd Cavalry brigade at Fort Bliss, Tex.
    General Gerhardt was promoted to first lieutenant May 15, 1917; to captain March 30, 1920, to major September 1, 1932: to lieutenant colonel July 1, 1940; to brigadier general (temporary) July 10, 1941, and to major general about two weeks ago.
    For his World War service General Gerhardt was awarded the Order of Leopold by the Belgian government.
    Colonel Meredith, born and raised in O'Neill, Neb., was graduated from West Point in 1908. He served in the infantry until 1920, in the chemical warfare service for the next eight years, and has been in the infantry since.
    In World War I Colonel Meredith engaged principally in machine gun work. He organized and conducted the machine gun department at Fort Benning, Ga., and later organized and conducted the chemical warfare department at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. He has served in the Philippine Islands, Panama and France in addition to the United States.
    A graduate of the infantry school and of the command and general staff school at Fort Leavenworth, Colonel Meredith's recent service has been as GI personnel officer and G-3 plans and training officer of the 4th army. Immediately prior to his being assigned as post commander of Camp White he was chief of staff of the 9th Corps area.
    Colonel Meredith was appointed a second-lieutenant February 14, 1908, a first lieutenant in 1913, captain in 1915, major in 1920, lieutenant colonel in 1930 and colonel on January 1, 1937.
    Colonel Meredith's decorations include that of the Treasury Department's silver lifesaving medal.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 8, 1942, page 1


    MEDFORD, Aug. 15.--(Special)--Camp White, Southern Oregon's largest military project and one of Oregon's two big army cantonments, will be the scene of a stirring program Saturday morning when the new 91st Infantry Division, successor to the 91st Division of World War fame, is activated for service in the present conflict.
    The program will take place from 10 A.M. to noon. Major-General Charles H. Gerhardt, division commander, has extended an invitation to the public, especially veterans of the old "Wild West" 91st Division.
    Camp White, still under construction, is to be occupied by thousands of troops in training. It is seven miles from Medford by highway, 18 from Ashland and 21 from Grants Pass.
    It was named for the late Major-General George A. White, who commanded the 41st Division.
Oregonian, Portland, August 15, 1942, page 1


    MEDFORD, Aug. 14.--(Special)--Out on the sun-baked Agate Desert of the Rogue River Valley bronzed men and officers are shouting "Powder River--Let 'er Buck," the famous war cry that the "Wild West" 91st Division sounded as it charged into battle in 1918. These new army men and officers at the army's new Camp White are building a new 91st Division for a new and bloodier war, but with the same old battle cry and the same high ideals that made the old 91st a famous combat organization.
    The new 91st Infantry Division is commanded by vigorous, hard-driving Major-General Charles H. Gerhardt.
    Veterans of the old 91st, proud of their record, which included glorious action in the Meuse-Argonne and Ypres-Lys, have challenged General Gerhardt to beat the record of the World War division.
    Perhaps the man best qualified to judge whether the old division can be eclipsed is Colonel J. P. Donnovin, executive officer of the division artillery, who will have the unique experience of seeing both divisions built from the ground up. Colonel Donnovin, assigned to the old 91st as a second lieutenant in its early stages, is the only officer of the new division who served with the old.
    "With modern methods and modern orientation the new 91st Infantry Division will be all General Gerhardt plans for it," said Colonel Donnovin. "I feel certain that the veterans of the old division are going to be very proud of the new 91st."
    The division will have its activation Saturday with fitting ceremony, honored by the presence of many veterans of the old organization from Oregon and California and other states. The huge Camp White, named for Major-General George A. White, commander of the 41st Division who died last November, still is in the construction stage and will not have its formal dedication until a later date.
    Camp White is a permanent installation, at least for duration of the war, perhaps for long afterward, its function the providing of housing and other accommodations for troops in the process of training for warfare. The 91st Division now is Camp White's principal tenant, the duration of its stay here to be determined by the time necessary to bring it from the raw stage to that of readiness for battle.
    The time now thought to be necessary for training of the division is a military secret, but it is no secret to reveal that the training period will be much shorter than was necessary to prepare troops for combat in 1917-1918, and that they will be far better prepared for battle.
    The new division will be like the old in one respect. It will be built from Selective Service enrollees. Men of the old 91st came from the Wild West, to give it its colorful name, but the new Powder River cry is being sounded by voices whose normal tones are in the soft drawl of the South, the voices of men from the Midwest corn belt, of downeasters from the far-off Atlantic Coast states.
    The division at present is composed entirely of training cadres, men and officers seasoned in the ranks, drilled to fine-edge perfection in the world's finest army schools, old-timers and specialists selected for the one job of building raw recruits into tough soldiers in the shortest possible time.
    Seventy-five percent or more of the second lieutenants are youngsters fresh from infantry, artillery, quartermaster, medical, engineering and other officer candidate schools, a very large percentage of them former noncommissioned officers and men from the ranks.
    About these cadres, the nucleus of the division, will be built the new organization. This week a few of the Selective Service enrollees arrived at the camp. By next week they may be rolling out to the parched Agate Desert in thousands, from every state in the union. Then the fun will really begin, for General Gerhardt has indicated that work will be the principal diet of the division until it ready to take its place somewhere at the front of the global warfare.
    General Gerhardt, arriving at Camp White July 8, immediately was enthusiastic over its possibilities. It would fill the bill for his training of a No. 1 combat division, he declared. Its ranges are so good that every type of weapon to be used by the division can be fired without the lines of fire crossing.
    The 47-year-old commanding general apparently is concentrating on training for any type of warfare, and Camp White offers ideal terrain and weather for that purpose. First off, he appeared in a "MacArthur" shirt, sleeveless, open at the throat. And men and officers are to leave off the shirts, stripped to the waist at all times possible, to acquire the brown, toughened hide that will equip them for desert heat.
    The newcomer in the division can be spotted across the widest regimental parade ground by the pale whiteness of his skin. Men who have been there two or three weeks are as brown as the Oklahoma Indians, who are found in considerable number among the troops arriving from the Southwest.
    General Gerhardt, stripped to the waist and astride his favorite horse, or his bicycle; for there is a strict ban on needless use of gasoline and tires, is no exception to the rule. Neither are the two other general officers of the division, Brigadier-General Percy W. Clarkson, assistant divisional commander, and Brigadier-General Edward S. Ott, commanding the division artillery.
    The streets of Medford, Grants Pass and Ashland are crowded these days by thousands of soldiers, who wear the historic green tree emblem of the 91st Division and the blue-and-white shoulder insignia of the service command units who form the troops of the command of Colonel Owen R. Meredith, who is post commander of Camp White.
    The functions of these troops differ as widely as do their insignia. The service command troops comprise the permanent station complement, charged with the responsibility of running Camp White and its facilities, barracks, theaters, post exchanges, policing and a thousand and one duties.
    They occupy separate quarters in the huge cantonment, and their work is strenuous and requires as speedy execution as does that of the combat division troops.
    Technically, Camp White still is the property of the Army Corps of Engineers, represented locally by Major Theron W. Bean, who has directed the vast construction program from its start. Not until they have virtually completed construction will the engineers officially turn over the camp to Colonel Meredith.
Oregonian, Portland, August 15, 1942, page 9


    Dedicated by their commanders to service of their country and mankind, two army divisions were reconstituted in Oregon Saturday. Both generals promised to develop grim, hard-fighting divisions, the 91st at Camp White, Medford, and the 96th at Camp Adair, near Albany.
    "I promise you that we shall go forward with high hearts and grim determination and, with God's help, we shall not fail!" exclaimed Major General Charles H. Gerhardt at Camp White, and among his audience were many men who served in the 91st Division during World War I.
    A division of realists was promised by Major General James L. Bradley, commander of the 96th division at Camp Adair.
    "We must be realists," he told his men and the civilians present. "War is not a game. There is no chivalry in it. War is killing. We kill or get killed. Like our enemies, we must fight and use every trick to win. We must have such a determination to win that we are willing to undergo any hardships in preparing ourselves to gain that victory."
    The public was not invited to the Camp Adair ceremony because a large crowd could not be handled without interfering with workers building the cantonment.
Oregon Journal, Portland, August 16, 1942, page 1


    MEDFORD, Aug. 15.--"I saw men die, at my command, and be fore my very eyes, to defend these colors in the Argonne Forest 24 years ago, and I saw them carry these colors on to victory, and if the new 91st Division grows to be as tough a fighting force as the old 91st Division, General Gerhardt, under your command, you'll really have something."
    Such was the declaration of Major A. B. Richeson of Portland, battalion commander in the 364th Infantry, 91st Division, in the World war No. 1, when he turned over the colors of the old 91st Division to the now 91st Division in activation day ceremonies at Camp White here today.
    Presentation of the colors to the new 91st Division followed roll call of the dead heroes of the old 91st Division when guidons were raised to the dead by young, strong, men of the new 91st. As the names of the dead were read by Don Newbury of Medford, the span of 24 years was erased as a "here" was sounded, clear and loud, by a sun-tanned soldier who had grasped the guidon for the dead.
    A crowd estimated at more than 10,000 filled to overflowing the seating accommodations provided' in front of the 91st Division headquarters.
    Floyd K. Dover, of Grants Pass, first sergeant of Co. I, 362d infantry of the old 91st Division, presented to General Gerhardt, commander of the new 91st Division, the first rifle captured by the old 91st from the Germans. Dover took the rifle when he disposed of a sniper who had killed a soldier. Private Lee Gautshe, a runner whom Dover had just dispatched. Dover received a wound while killing the sniper, for which he was awarded the Order of the Purple Heart, Dover was also awarded the Croix de Guerre, and two silver stars.
    In presenting the German rifle to General Gerhardt, Dover charged the new 91st Division with the task of carrying the traditions of the old, a tradition which was to take every objective regardless of difficulties.
    "We fought and many died that the world might be free, and that our country might be free," Dover said, "And we are ready to fight again."
    In accepting the colors from the old 91st, General Gerhardt declared that in carrying on the fight, the new 91st Division, would make its influence felt upon the battlefields of the world.
    "I have every respect for the traditions and achievements of our predecessors in this division," General Gerhardt said, "We have shown you the glory of the military profession here this morning, but now we shall begin training to transfer these gentlemen soldiers into savage killers on the field of battle. In less than one year, many of us will be dead, either victims of drowning on our way to fight, or we will be battle casualties.
    "We of the armed forces stand ready to make these sacrifices and we ask you to make whatever sacrifices you must make to help us, and now, so that Berlin can hear us, at your command, 'Powder River, let 'er buck'."
    Joining General Gerhardt were more than 10,000 voices, echoing the battle cry that shall carry the new 91st Division into battle, as it carried the old.
    The 60-foot fir tree, given to the 91st Division by the Rogue River National forest, and planted in front of the division headquarters, was dedicated by the Rev. R. W. Coleman of Medford. The tree is a Shasta fir, brought from Huckleberry Mountain.
    W. A. Gates of Medford, chairman of the Jackson County bond sale committee, presented to General Gerhardt a scroll containing some 8000 names of buyers of bonds in Jackson County.
    "Jackson County people have have bought enough bonds to arm the 91st Division," Gates said, "and it is with pleasure that we tell you we are continuing to buy bonds so that other divisions can be armed."
    General Gerhardt said that every name on the list would be given honorary membership in the 91st Division.
    Demonstrations of military drill were given by crack drill units of the division and a calisthenics demonstration was given by the 361st infantry, disarming scrimmage demonstration and jiu-jitsu were given by the 362nd infantry, and an anti-tank demonstration was given by the 363rd.
    Following the program, veterans of the old 91st Division got together to renew friendships and many had not met since they were mustered out of the service. Men of the old 91st had noon mess with their old outfits as guests of honor. The Salvation Army was on hand to serve coffee and doughnuts to civilians and soldiers alike, as they did in France in 1918.
Oregon Journal, Portland, August 16, 1942, page 7


    The affectionate pride of the state responds to the naming of the great cantonment near Medford, on Rogue River, after the late Major-General George A. White--the commonwealth's famous soldier. Dedication will be held September 15, and Mrs. George A. White will unveil a commemorative plaque at the simple but impressive military ceremony. Those who were privileged to have the personal friendship and acquaintance of George White, as we of Oregon knew him, feel that the Medford cantonment, Camp White, is gloriously named.
    General White, blunt, humorous, forceful, sagacious, was a man of many parts, soldier, leading citizen, author, journalist, illustrator, and organizer of not a few of the state's major public enterprises. His career in the military began when he enlisted in the United States field artillery in 1898. He served with great distinction in the First World War, entering federal service with the rank of major and while overseas was promoted to the grade of lieutenant colonel. He was a member of the staff of General Pershing. He was adjutant-general of Oregon from 1915 until his death, in November of last year. It was under his supervision that the old 3rd Oregon (162nd Infantry) was mobilized overnight as the first national guard regiment ready for service in World War I.
    Similarly Camp Adair, the huge cantonment near Corvallis, is named after an Oregon military hero, Lieutenant Henry R. Adair, born in Astoria. With his Negro troopers, Lieutenant Adair engaged in a brush with Mexican troops, in the border trouble of 1916, at Carrizal, state of Sonora. There Lieutenant Adair was killed, fighting magnificently and effectively, and became forever in national history "Adair of Carrizal." One Mexican soldier who participated in the fight afterward described him: "You should have seen the white teniente fight. He was just a boy, slim and weak-looking, but he fought us like a madman. He was wounded, but still his bullets rained among us until one of our shots tore in his chest and he dropped dead." The name of the cantonment, Camp Adair, is an enduring inspiration to military valor by the American tradition.
Oregonian, Portland, August 19, 1942, page 10


    "Commodiously, even handsomely built"--
    That is the description of the military establishment on the Agate Desert north of Medford. But, strange as it seems, this referred not to Camp White, the great cantonment which now spreads from the slopes of Table Rock to the hills of Antelope. It was, instead, a statement made nearly a century ago describing old Fort Lane, an army post built in 1853 and named after Oregon's first territorial governor and famous Indian fighter, General Joseph Lane.
    Walling's "History of Southern Oregon" told of the picturesque old fort in glowing terms. It was constructed of logs, as was the custom of the times, and boasted a parade grounds, barracks, officers' homes and an army hospital. Here were garrisoned the hardy U.S. Army troopers during the turbulent 1850s.
    Today the site of Fort Lane is but a small corner of the expansive Camp White reservation. On the western border of the camp, at the foot of Table Rock, is the historic spot where General Joseph Lane and Indian Joseph signed a treaty of peace on September 10, 1855--the end of a long and bloody struggle between the early settlers and the Rogue River Indians. On the muster roll of that campaign appear the names of Terry's Crescent City Guards, Rhoad's Humbug Creek Volunteers and Goodall's Yreka Volunteers.
    And so, Southern Oregon people, prideful of the early history of this western frontier, have added interest in the new army camp on the Agate Desert.
    They are proud of the role of old Fort Lane in carving an empire here. They are equally proud of the great cantonment of today so ably administered by Colonel Owen Meredith, for here the "butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker" will be molded into hard and war-wise fighting men who will carry the banner of free men on distant battlefields so that justice and humanity may be preserved.
    Camp White, too, is "commodiously, even handsomely built," according to today's standards. Here there is every provision for the training of men in the technique of present-day military operations. Military men who know say that Camp White's terrain is ideal for most tactical operations; that the climate here is ideally suited to the job of conditioning men for the rigors of battle. The camp, a veritable city of barracks, shops, warehouses, hospitals, chapels and amusement centers, was built in record time. It is recognized as one of the nation's finest cantonments.
    Southern Oregon people were pleased, too, when this commodious and handsome camp was named in honor of Oregon's illustrious citizen, the late Major General George A. White, for "the General" had many staunch friends in this section of the state.
    The choice of his name was most appropriate. General White was a veteran of the Spanish-American War, the expedition into Mexico after Pancho Villa, and the first World War. He had a distinguished career in civilian life too, as a journalist and author. His startling and prophetic saga of invasion, "Attack on America," written under his pen name of "Ared White," shocked some Americans into a grim realization that this nation was even then in danger.
    To history, General White will be remembered as one of the founders of the American Legion; to those who knew him best he will be remembered for his friendly smile, his kindly consideration of men under his command, and his intense loyalty to friends.
    It is quite natural that the former dedication of Camp White tomorrow should be a signal occasion here in Jackson County. The reasons are threefold. It is historic ground upon which the camp was built--and we are proud of that history; we have pride in the great cantonment itself, and of the men who will live and train there; we recall the achievements and remember the man whose name is so appropriately honored.
Medford Mail Tribune, September 14, 1942, page 4


    Medford is entertaining guests right now, and Medford likes its guests.
    Never did easy-going Medford imagine--take a few years back--it would have quite so many comparatively unexpected strangers come to call all at one time and settle down for so long a visit.
    But when the "company" arrived, Medford, all decked out in its Sunday best, had the larder well stocked and was waiting on the front veranda.
    You see, Medford saw the guests coming a good piece down the road, long before they'd rounded the bend in the river, and Medford, like a truly good housewife, bustled right back into the house and got everything ready.
    Which, all in all, means the George A. White army cantonment that will bring thousands (the exact number of thousands being a military secret) of persons to the Southern Oregon pear-growing center is pretty well established and is quite the apple of pear-conscious Medford's eye.
    Medford likes its soldiers. Frank H. Rogers, the city superintendent, said so. And so did Clatous McCredie, tall chief of police (and who would know better than the chief?). And so did Frank Hull, chamber of commerce secretary, as he dug his way out from beneath a high stack of correspondence, all attributable to the cantonment--letters about housing, facilities, bicycles, gasoline, fuel and all other problems connected with a booming city.
    And, while we're on the subject, so did the grocer. And the lady who runs the candy stand. And the clerk in the drug store. And the service station man. And the girl in the soda fountain. And the shoe repair man. To them, the cantonment has meant Business.
    On the other hand, the girl in the lunch counter, rushing wildly from customer to customer, said:
    "That cantonment! I'd like to never see another soldier. They're in here so thick I never get a second's peace."
    And the Medford girl who said:
    "Well, I like the soldiers all right, most of them, but, you know, there's bound to be 'fresh' guys when you get that many all piled together."
    But there were very few dissenting voices raised in an at-random poll of Medford's population. Medford feels it's right in there pitching for Uncle Sam, and Medford likes that feeling.
    "Of course," Superintendent Rogers explained, "the entire complement of the camp is not here yet. I don't see, though, that the increased numbers will make any difference. We like the soldiers. We went out after the cantonment and we got it. We had our planning committee and we had things figured out, so we wouldn't wake up and find ourselves in the same mess other cities have experienced."
    Medford is accustoming itself rapidly to the influx of new citizens. Normally, Rogers explained, the population has run around 11,800. Now it's 17,000. And that's not counting the soldiers who hurry to town whenever they can get leave. Five thousand two hundred extra people is a crowd. And add to that thousands of soldiers…
    Huge Camp White, up the Crater Lake Highway from Medford, is a city in itself, complete from massive laundry where they employ hundreds (the number is another military secret--the town's full of them) of civilian workers and would like to have some more, to the numerous theaters, recreation halls, chapels, libraries, gymnasium, guest houses…
    It's a city which, when all the soldiers arrive, will be many times the size of neighboring Medford, but, despite its completeness even unto excellent recreational facilities for the khaki-clads, the boys, on leave, still like to troop to town.
    Morals, always a thorn in the side of the suddenly booming city, have presented not much of a problem to Medford.
    "One of our answers is the 10 P.M. curfew law for young people which we're not only going to have but which we're going to enforce," Chief of Police McCredie declared.
    "I won't say everything's been lily white and pure. We've had a few cases. You're bound to. We've had a slight pick-up of crime, but not, by far, in proportion to the great increase in population we had, especially while the construction crews were here."
    No property has been destroyed, the chief continued, and "smart guys" always attracted by "easy money" have left Medford pretty much alone. No part of Medford has been. declared "out of bounds" by military authorities.
    Warned that during the camp construction period, when the peak hit 9000 workmen at one time, there might be "trouble," Medford's police force was ready--too ready, in fact.
    "We put on two extra officers during the camp building," Chief McCredie said, "but they weren't awfully busy. They told us to be ready for a lot of drunks and the like and, knowing our jail wouldn't handle too many--we have just 16 beds, although there's always lots of room in the 'bull pen'--we bought some extra beds to be prepared for the crowds. Those beds are still in the warehouse. We haven't needed them so we just haven't unpacked them."
    Cantonment civilian employees and wives of officers--both commissioned and non-commissioned--are a great business boon to the Medford grocers, and stores of all kinds are sharing in the mounting profits.
    There's one problem, however, that is yet to be answered in Medford. That--like Portland's chief worry--is housing.
    There isn't a house or an apartment to be had in the town. Hotel rooms have to be reserved well in advance. Under way, however, is an FHA building program through which 45 permanent homes are being erected and under way, too, are frantic plans for emergency accommodations.
    Part of the housing problem has been answered by private home owners who have rented out their spare bedrooms and who have crowded in newcomers wherever possible.
    For Medford is a community-conscious, help your neighbor sort of a place, as evidenced by the case of the growers and the pears. Faced with a picker shortage, the ranchers were worried, but not for long. The townspeople picked the fruit. Everybody pitched in and lent a hand; even the police took time off from their policing, and picked pears. It wasn't much of a problem after all. Not in Medford.
    Doing a good business, too, is the town's USO building, where a piano, pingpong table, magazines, games, a range of musical instruments, a phonograph and other entertainments are available for the soldiers. Under way, too, are plans for a larger USO to accommodate greater crowds when additional troops start pouring into the Southern Oregon cantonment. Beer parlors are crowded, but on the other hand, so are soda fountains.
    That's the story, to date, of Medford and the army, but if you happen to be in town some weekend and want to find something like, for instance, the post office, don't ask the first man or woman you meet on the street. They won't know. Like as not they'll tell you:
    "The post office? Say, I'm a stranger here, myself, and I'd like to know where that is. I'll wait right here on this corner. If you find it, let me know."
Oregonian, Portland, November 29, 1942, page 90


    The year 1943 at Camp White was highlighted by the arrival of Maj. Gen. James L. Bradley's 96th Infantry Division from Camp Adair via the maneuvers in Eastern Oregon.
    Late in October the troops of the 96th, who had been stationed at Ft. Lewis and later at Adair, began pouring onto the reservation, tired from their rigorous "battles" in the area adjacent to Bend and glad to get back to "civilization."
    While men of the 96th left the maneuvers for their new billet at Camp White, the 91st Infantry Division of Maj. Gen. William G. Livesay, which had been activated here in August, 1942, was shifted to Camp Adair following completion of the maneuvers.
    A month-by-month review of 1943 at Camp White would look something like this:
    January--Lt. Col. Park B. Herrick succeeds Lt. Col. Frank N. Mallory as post executive officer, the Salvation Army USO formally opens in Medford and the first edition of the Camp White Grenade appears.
    February--Miserable weather inspires the name of "Lake White."
    March--Miss Barbara Stuart crowned Queen of Winter Sports at Ice Arena, XI Corps becomes IV Corps, 353rd Engineers complete "Combat Village," to be used for realistic training of 91st doughboys.
    April--First formal review held for 91st Infantry Division. Easter sunrise services held on Dixie Mound.
    May--News reels of "Combat Village" taken for nationwide release, 91st Fir Tree Frolics declared huge success, Memorial Day observed by all military personnel.
    June--New Riverside USO officially opens in Medford, as does pre-natal clinic.
    July--Maj. Gen. Charles Gerhardt, commanding general of the 91st Infantry Division, leaves for foreign service and is succeeded by Maj. Gen. William G. Livesay. Original cadremen of the 91st celebrate their first anniversary. Station hospital holds "Organization Day" anniversary celebration.
    August--First WAC cadre arrives, and GIs also thrilled at appearance on Post of Ann Sothern, beauteous Hollywood movie star; 74th and 35th Engineers arrive from helping construct Alcan Highway.
    September--Entire camp celebrates first anniversary of dedication of cantonment, WACS sworn into regular army, Lt. Col. John W. Horsley becomes post executive officer.
    October--Service troops pass in formal review before Post Commander Brig. Gen. Amos Thomas, Camp White football league opens and Sgt. Joe Louis and troupe appear at sports arena.
    November--Post welcomes 96th Infantry Division and Maj. Gen. James L. Bradley, IV Corps becomes Fourth Army and personnel don new insignia, 14th Cavalry group arrives, Maj. Gen. David McCoach, Jr., new commanding general of the Ninth Service Command, makes first inspection tour of Post, 35th Engineers capture football championship.
    December--New Post bowling alleys open and everybody has a Merry Christmas.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 3, 1944, page 2


    Announcement was made at the weekend by Capt. H. B. LaFavre, officer in command of the United States naval hospital at Camp White, that the institution had a total of 560 patients. Approximately half of the number arrived during the week at the hospital, which was put into commission by the navy August 30.
    The current capacity of the navy hospital, originally built as part of the big army training center at Camp White at a cost said to have been approximately $2,000,000, is 1756 beds. Capt. LaFavre has said that its accommodations could be increased to 2200 to 2500 by the addition only of two buildings to house hospital corpsmen.
    The hospital, one of the few of permanent construction built during wartime, includes 42 brick buildings, all of which are connected by corridors. All wards are two-story brick buildings employing ramps instead of elevators.
    The hospital is one of the overflow outlets for Pacific war casualties arriving at the 5200-bed navy receiving hospital at Oakland, Cal. Plans for full-scale operation at the Medford installation call for a staff of 170 nurses, 532 corpsmen, 70 medical officers, 17 hospital corps officers, six dentists, two paymasters, two chaplains, five "line" officers and probably 250 civilian employees.
    The navy has not indicated how long it expects the Camp White hospital to be in operation. It might continue indefinitely if it is designated as a convalescent hospital. The Red Cross has said it does not expect the peak load of hospital patients from the Pacific to be reached before six months.
    The navy is operating the hospital on permit from the War Department, revocable upon 120 days notice. The contract includes provision that the army will maintain roads and water lines into the hospital, operate heating and telephone services and make necessary repairs and additions, an agreement which will require maintenance of a staff at Camp White, whose army personnel now has shrunk to a fraction of its former complement. Army patients are cared for at the hospital as part of the agreement.
    Officials have indicated that such military personnel probably will be replaced by civilians if they can be obtained.
    Until recently, a staff of 30 German prisoners of war from the POW camp at Camp White were employed in various duties at the hospital, but were transferred with other prisoners to the prisoner of war branch camp at Tule Lake, Cal., to work in the harvest fields.
Oregonian, Portland, October 8, 1945, page 12


    WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.--(AP)--The navy department has agreed to make available to the Veterans Administration 500 beds in the naval hospital at Camp White, Medford, Or.
    The administration said Saturday the beds will be made available immediately, helping to ease a critical shortage in veterans' hospitals at Portland and Walla Walla, Wash.
    The allocation, which is in addition to others announced earlier in the week, increases the number of beds immediately available to the Veterans Administration to 1150.
Oregonian, Portland, December 30, 1945, page 4


    Camp White, Jan. 11.--Col. J. Merriam Moore assumed command of 1913 SCU, Camp White, yesterday, it has been announced.. Col. Moore succeeds Lt. Col. John W. Horsley, who will serve as the new commander's executive officer.
    Col. Moore is a regular army officer and veteran of both world wars. He recently returned to the United States after serving in both the European and Pacific theaters of operation. Prior to going overseas, Col. Moore was commander at Camp Roberts, Calif. He recently visited with his family at Dallas, Tex., and with his son, who recently was discharged from the navy. The family plans to join the colonel here in the near future.
    The new commander is a graduate of the army war college, AC tactical school, chemical warfare school, field officers course and attended the commander and general staff school. He received his degree at Harvard University.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 11, 1946, page 1


    Recently publicized charges that the army is hoarding surplus and salvage materials has led Camp White officials to present circumstances concerning the sale of goods there.
    Capt. Virgil M. Lancaster, post engineer, said Friday that experience of his office staff indicated that people lack interest and do not take advantage of opportunities available to them. Statistics of the purchasing and contracting department of the engineer office show that while the last 20 lists of salable properties have been sent to 17 trade magazines and to an average of 65 prospective customers, an average of only six bids per list had been received. One list of electrical equipment brought a response of just four bids and on another similar list only two were received. Eight persons or firms sent offers on one list of plumbing supplies.
    In addition, some bids have been unreasonably low and have been thrown out.
    Properties being sold at the camp are generally engineer or utility supplies, it was pointed out. Items for sale include electrical, plumbing, mess, carpentry equipment and supplies and engineering, construction or landscaping hand implements. No vehicles are to be obtained at the post and little signal equipment is for sale. No cameras are listed.
    Properties on sale at Camp White are items or small lots of supplies, price of which is under $100 and which are declared salvage. Salable properties or quantities valued over $100 are determined surplus and must be obtained through the War Assets office in Seattle.
    Persons interested in buying the salvage material may write to or call at the office of the Chief of Purchasing Branch, Camp White to be placed on a prospective customer roll. If and when the property desired is up for sale, the customer will receive a copy of the list on which it appears. Cost of the item to the army and its condition, whether new or used, is noted on the listing. A buyer may then apply for bidding papers and may submit his offer which will be opened 20 days after the lists have been sent out. Property goes to the highest bidder if his offer is reasonable. Bids can be made on separate material on the list and must not exceed the OPA ceiling. Offers must be accompanied by a 20 percent deposit which will be refunded if the bid is not accepted.
    It was explained by the engineer office that veterans' preference does not exist in the sales conducted by the camp and that an ex-serviceman could not just come out to the camp with money in his pocket and expect to take anything home. Veterans must apply through the War Assets office, and preference exists for items valued over $100.
    A high camp official said yesterday, however, that PX fixtures would be auctioned to veterans May 15 to 17 at the post and that the fixtures would be on display for three days beginning May 12. Others will be allowed to buy after the veterans have had their chance. Prospective customers will be able to purchase meals at the camp during the days of the sale.
    The official also declared that in releasing the circumstance concerning the poor public response Camp White had no "ax to grind" and that the information was being released without directive as a public service.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 6, 1946, page 10


    Medford and nearby communities at the outset made a strong play on the use of the Camp White hospital for a VA establishment, pointing out it was already constructed at a large cost and could be quickly converted. Their suggestions were along the line of sound economy, and were similar to the local expressions in favor of using the Marine barracks as a site for the VA hospital here.
    Indications are that the same answer has been given in both cases: The VA is not interested in taking over second-hand establishments.
    Klamath people learned some months ago that the Marine barracks was virtually out as a VA hospital possibility, and Medford, according to reports in the Medford Mail Tribune, has just learned the same thing about Camp White hospital. The M-T says that the people over there learned Camp White hospital was unsatisfactory because of its wooden interior, that the cost of rebuilding would be too great, that facilities for employees are not satisfactory and travel distance between the camp and Medford too great.
Herald and News, Klamath Falls, May 7, 1946, page 6


    On December 12, 1941, blackout hours were from 1:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., the Russians claimed a sweeping victory on the winterbound Moscow front with 85,000 Germans dead, and most important of all, to the people of this area, word was received that the army would build a huge cantonment near Medford. Plans for the installation, begun months before as war clouds gathered, had been completed for some time, but as time passed and no further word came, hope that the camp would be located here had all but vanished.
    Now, six full years later, the cantonment, Camp White as it was named, has served its purpose and been mostly dismantled, and just today comes word that the 15,000 acres will be turned back to the former owners, or veterans and other priority holders.
    Those were stirring December days six years ago, as the newspapers and radio told of the Japanese hurling attacks at the Philippine Islands, French crews being taken off their ships in American ports to prevent sabotage, and Capt. Colin P. Kelly Jr., being cited posthumously for his single-handed sinking of the Japanese battleship Haruna. [Kelly's plane damaged the Natori. The Harukaze was damaged during the same attack.]
    From an easy-going, peaceful little town, Medford was catapulted into the war with a bang. Came contractors, carpenters, plumbers, painters, truck drivers, straw bosses, army officers, soldiers, hangers-on and camp followers by the thousands.
    On the "desert" buildings began to rise as if by magic, but the army set up its own iron curtain of censorship, and newspapers were unable to say much about what was going on out there north of town. Some days as many as three or four accidental deaths were reported over the grapevine, a news source which worked overtime grinding out false reports.
    Close on completion of the barracks troop trains slipped in and disgorged their thousands of newly uniformed men until Camp White boasted more people than did Medford itself. Originally planned to accommodate around 33,000, the camp was said at one time to have housed as many as 35,000. In addition to men in training there were many German prisoners of war later in the conflict.
    A few of those who were forced to leave their homes in the Beagle-Antelope district to make way for the camp buildings, artillery ranges and other soldier training activities felt pretty badly used, but most all recognized the nation's need and made way gracefully. Many suffered considerable hardship in leaving their homes, and many went with heavy hearts for they had built up their places over long years of work and sacrifice.
    Now that the war is over these former owners will have a chance to regain their lands, all except the space reserved for use by the Oregon National Guard and one or two tracts which overlap into the building area.
    After expiration of the 90-day priority enjoyed by former owners, the lands will be divided into farm units and veterans will be given opportunity to bid on them.
    Non-priority holders will get the first chance at such parcels of land as have not been disposed of, the would-be-purchasers being required to deposit sealed bids.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 30, 1947, page 6