The Civilian Conservation Corps in Southern Oregon.

    CCC CAMP CLEAR CREEK, Jan. 3.--(Spl.)--As usual, the dinner at Clear Creek camp was the most important event of Christmas. It was held back until 4 p.m., so as to make the men hungrier. Thus they ate more and enjoyed their Christmas celebration with greater zeal.
    The camp's own orchestra opened the dinner ceremonial by playing "River, Stay 'Way from My Door." The men then started to devour turkey and everything that goes with it. A package of cigarettes was given each man immediately before the meal.
    Lieut. Slusser wished all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and received similar greetings in return.
    At 8 p.m. everyone met in the recreation hall for amusement, with Lieut. Slusser as master of ceremonies. A Christmas tree, highly decorated, stood in one corner. It made the scene more impressive with the Christmas spirit.
    The fun began when Lieut. Slusser led the camp in "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here," accompanied by the orchestra. Some played instruments and sang to show their skill.
    The educational advisor gave a speech on the "Oregon Trail." The camp doctor gave a brief address on the meaning of Yuletides. Immediately after, all adjourned to the mess hall, where they indulged in ice cream, candy, nuts, cake and coffee.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 3, 1935, page 6


    CCC CO. 964, CAMP WIMER, Jan. 8.--(Spl.)--Now that the new year has gotten under way, Wimer is going to be a busy camp.
    The camp began a cooks', bakers' and meat cutters' school Monday, with 36 students in the classes from all camps in the Medford district. They are to get actual experience in the above-mentioned courses, under the direction of capable instructors. These courses are to last four weeks. The students will work in three shifts with 12 men to a shift.
    Those taking the bakers' course will bake bread and pastry for company use.
    The meat cutters will cut meat for many of the camps in the district.
    As for the cooks, they will cook one day and study the next so as to give the next shift a chance to cook.
    The schools are an example of of the good that is being done by the CCC's and the educational and practical training at the disposal of the members.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 8, 1935, page 2


    A statement of the work accomplished by the five CCC camps located within Rogue River National Forest for the month of December, 1934, was issued today from the Forest Service headquarters.
    Included in the report is such work as telephone line construction, reduction of fire hazard, roadside cleanup, construction of lookout houses and towers, construction of truck trails and horse trails, maintenance of campground facilities, campground clearing and construction of campground buildings. The work is done by Camps Applegate, Elk Creek, Evans Creek, Carberry and South Fork.
    The report follows:
    Miles constructed: Elk Creek, 2; Evans Creek, 2.5; total 4.5.
    Acres completed: South Fork, 40.
    Miles completed: Applegate, 4; Elk Creek, 15; Carberry, 8; South Fork, 1.2; total, 28.2.
    Number constructed: Applegate, 1 house and 1 tower.
    Miles completed: Applegate, 2.5; Elk Creek, .8; Evans Creek, 1; Carberry, .2; total 4.5
    Miles partially completed: Applegate, 1; Evans Creek, 2.2; Carberry, 4.2; South Fork 5; total, 12.4.
    Miles maintained: Applegate, 20.5; Evans Creek, 10; Carberry, 8; South Fork, 11.2; total 49.7.
    Miles completed: Applegate, .5.
    Acres completed: Applegate, 1.
    Acres partially completed: Applegate, .5.
    Number partially completed: Elk Creek, 1.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 8, 1935, page 2


    With an enrollment of 25 cooks from all camps in the Medford CCC district, a course is under way at the fairgrounds headquarters detachment in which camp cooks are being trained to become mess sergeants. The course, under the supervision of First Lieut. Charles H. Jeffress, QM-Res., is the first of its kind to be started in any CCC district.
    Under the instruction of Lieut. Jeffress, the cooks enrolled are taught proper methods of preparing a complete company mess. Balanced menus and the proper proportions of vitamins are stressed, so that the enrollees will be able to supervise work of the cooks themselves.
    A course for the preliminary training of cooks has been organized at Camp Wimer, where a group of CCC enrollees is being taught butchering and the fundamental principles of preparing food. The fairgrounds course takes up the instruction after the enrollees have become thoroughly acquainted with these principles.
    The class, under way since Monday, will be brought to a close at the end of this week.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 13, 1935, page 11


    CAMP HUMBUG MOUNTAIN, Jan. 16.--(Spl.)--Illinois boys of CCC Co. 611, stationed at Camp Humbug Mountain, situated in a region rich in pioneer history, will have an opportunity to hear the story of the exploration and settlement of this section from a living member of the Illinois family linked closest to its early settlement when Frank Tichenor lectures in the camp at 8 p.m. on Thursday. Mr. Tichenor is a grandson of Captain William Tichenor, who first landed an organized company near the present site of Port Orford. Captain William Tichenor's wife's name was England. The Englands and Tichenors originally lived in Illinois, the captain having been a friend of Abraham Lincoln.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 16, 1935, page 8


    WASHINGTON, Jan. 18.--(AP)--More money for the Home Owners' Loan Corporation and extension of the Civilian Conservation Corps are planned by President Roosevelt.
    At his press conference today he said additional funds for the home corporation, to meet applications already on file, would be sought but the amount had not been decided upon. A billion dollars has been mentioned in administration sources.
    The President said he favored continuing the CCC for another year.
    On the proposal for old age pensions, he emphasized that while the federal government had limited its share to $15 a month, there was no limitation upon the amount the states might provide.
    He said the federal limit was necessary to keep the old age program within sound financing.
    As for the unemployment insurance proposal, Mr. Roosevelt said he assumed the states would adopt a uniform system of providing for workers who change from one job to another so their contributions to the insurance fund would be safeguarded.
    Hope was expressed by the President that the social security legislation would be put through quickly so it could get to the state legislatures before most of them adjourn about the end of March or first of April.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 18, 1935, page 7


    TABLE ROCK, Jan. 19.--(Special)--At the annual meeting of the Table Rock Telephone Co., held January 4, an assessment of $1 per share was levied for 1935 maintenance. Including the switchboard charge of $6 per year and the maintenance charge of $1, the people of Table Rock section enjoy good telephone service for a total cost of $7 per year.
    Officer elected at the annual meeting were R. E. Nealon, president; E. C. Hamilton, vice-president and J. L. Nealon, secretary-treasurer.
    A crew of CCC boys will start construction work soon on a Forest Service telephone line through the Table Rock community and into the Meadows district. The new line will start at the Four Corners service station, following the west side of the road to the Table Rock store, running west from there on the south side of the road. An agreement is being drawn whereby the wires of the Table Rock Telephone Co. can be placed on the new poles.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 20, 1935, page 8


    Robert Fechner, director of emergency conservation work, recently announced that a total of 26,684 enrolled members of the Civilian Conservation Corps had been awarded first aid certificates by the American Red Cross during the months of September, October, November and December, 1934. The men receiving certificates were graduated from the first aid schools established in the CCC camps on a nationwide basis last August.
    Before receiving certificates in first aid, each man was required to pass an examination upon completion of the standard 15-hour course of instruction prepared and issued by the Red Cross.
    The first aid courses are given under supervision of War Department medical officers in cooperation with the American Red Cross. The regulations prescribe that each class should be taught by an instructor holding a card of appointment from the Red Cross, authorizing him to conduct first aid work. Examination blanks as well as instructor's outlines are supplied by the Red Cross. At the completion of each course, the company commander in charge of the CCC camp submits a list of graduates to the War Department.
    The number of first aid graduates for Oregon was listed as 308.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 24, 1935, page 10


    A comprehensive program for the development of Rogue River National Forest, under the national CCC expansion plan expected to be announced soon from Washington, D.C., was outlined yesterday by Karl Janouch, supervisor of Rogue River National Forest, following a three weeks' conference with officials of the regional forest offices at Portland.
    The local Forest Service has prepared scores of projects embracing enough work to take care of any appropriation likely to be made from the federal administration. Although the plan to increase the national CCC enrollment to 1,000,000 men is only under consideration, Supervisor Janouch judged from the President's recent talk on natural resources, in which he placed much weight on the importance of Forest Service work, that a considerable amount of new work is undoubtedly forthcoming. Should the plan be passed by Congress, it is expected that funds would be made available by April 1.
    The program prepared by officials of Rogue River forest includes projects whereby 35,000 men could be employed for the full field season. These men would be stationed throughout the forest at several new CCC camps which have been foreseen by local officials and already mapped. The work these men would carry on has been listed with view to priority and classified to the smallest detail. It will be checked over thoroughly before the anticipated appropriations are made and the program launched.
    Fire protection and recreational development are given first consideration, due to the fact that Rogue River forest, which is classed among the most important forests in the country, is valued for its timber resources and as a recreational area for Southern Oregon and Northern California.
    The work will include camp ground improvements, fire hazard reduction and fire prevention, blister rust control, trail and road construction, fish and game preservation, roadside cleanup, telephone line construction and many other projects which will beautify, develop and perpetuate the forest.
    Under recreational development, Supervisor Janouch hopes to make the forest not only a summer but a winter haven. He disclosed plans for the development of Lake o' the Woods into an extensive winter resort. Skiing facilities would be established, and the lake itself would possibly be made suitable for ice skating and ice boating. Ideal winter sports conditions are said to exist in the Lake o' the Woods area, which would be made accessible either by opening a new road through the Dead Indian country to Ashland or by developing the one through the Pelican Bay district to Klamath Falls.
    A new road would possibly be constructed from Fish Lake to Four-Mile Lake, with a view to opening the later to fishing and boating. A new resort would not be established in the Four-Mile area, however, as one there would tend to detract from the present Fish Lake and Lake o' the Woods resorts.
    Another recreational project under consideration is the completion of the loop from Ashland to Ashland mountain, thence to Wagner Butte, thence to Talent. By this road a short drive would be opened through an area of unsurpassed scenic value.
    Supervisor Janouch also revealed plans for maintenance of artificial ponds throughout the forest for pump supplies in case of forest fires and plans to surround all areas of great forest fire hazard with firebreaks to prevent spread of fire.
    Huckleberry Mountain, visited each summer by approximately 3000 tourists, may be thinned of its shade trees and fenced from cattle to develop to the greatest possible extent its harvest of huckleberries.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 30, 1935, page 5

    A backward glance at the history of Camp Elk Creek shows that the company has undergone many changes since its origin, June 7, 1933 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Major N. E. Fiske was the first commanding officer, assisted by 1st Lt. Dennison.
    The original enrollees were thirty-two members transferred from Co. 1733 CCC, together with four enlisted army men. This detachment left Jefferson Barracks June 16, 1933, en route to Medford, Oregon, headquarters for the Medford district, CCC.
    Upon arrival at Medford they were sent to the camp site chosen on Elk Creek, some twelve miles off the Crater Lake Highway, where a tent camp was established. Here the company was enlarged by enrolling experienced woodsmen, later known as L.E.M.'s, meaning Local Experienced Men.
    Many changes of officers and men took place during the summer, and by September, 1933, all the eastern juniors had been returned to their homes. About this time work was begun to make Elk Creek a permanent CCC camp. Four fifty-man barracks were started.
    On October 14th, 1933, Capt. Glen J. Key assumed command of the company, which had by this time become an L.E.M. company. Mr. Fred Warner was the first project superintendent at Camp Elk Creek, serving in that capacity until September 30, 1933 ,when Mr. Jesse De Witt relieved him. December 19, 1933, Mr. Warner was returned to company 1747 as project superintendent, which position he held until January 1935, when he was called to [Rogue?] River National Forest. Mr. Ralph G. Jennings is now project superintendent and is making an enviable record.
    On April 25, 1934, the company moved to summer quarters at Camp Upper Rogue F-38, Union Creek, Oregon. This camp is the ideal recreational spot of the Rogue River National Forest, being only twenty miles from Crater Lake, a wonder spot of the world. In this camp the men improved the recreational facilities by building trails, improving and providing conveniences for camping.
    Company 1747 at Upper Rogue made a record that set an example for every camp in the district to shoot at.
    The District Banner hung from Co. 1747's flagstaff four months at Camp Upper Rogue, April, May, July and October. The record of fighting forest fires was unexcelled.
    October 4, 1934, Capt. Glen J. Key was relieved as Camp Commander and 1st Lt. W. L. Kindred was assigned as Executive Officer.
    November 1, 1934, the company returned to winter quarters at Elk Creek.
    June 14, 1934, Mr. Celian Ufford was attached to Co. 1747 as educational advisor, serving until Dec. 1934, when L. A. Moore relieved him. Mr. Ufford transferred to a Calif. Co., CCC.
    March 31, 1935, Lt. McGuire resigning from the service, Lt. Kindred assumed command and served until April 18th, when Capt. L. N. Despain relieved him.
    Contract Surgeon H. B. Gillis on July 9, 1934, became 1st Lt. Med. Res. and served with the company until March 1935, when a transfer was made with Camp Applegate, whereby J. B. Gillis, the father of Lt. Gillis, came to Camp Elk Creek as Contract Surgeon.
    The camp is at present formulating plans to return to Camp Upper Rogue for the summer of 1935.
The Conifer Chatterer, Camp Elk Creek, Trail, Oregon, May 12, 1935, page 1  Click here for many more transcriptions from the Trail CCC camp newsletter.

    Present Diplomas--Major George R. Owens, Medford district CCC, commander, and Capt. William C. Ryan, welfare officer, presented diplomas today to 50 graduates of the CCC school for cooks and bakers at Camp Wimer. The graduates, completing a six weeks' course, now return to their respective camps. Another term of the school will start next week. Medford district claims credit for having inaugurated such schools in the CCC.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, September 26, 1935, page 7

    MEDFORD, Ore. (AP)--Twenty-six government auto trucks used by the CCC were destroyed in a fire that swept the agricultural building at the county fair grounds Thursday. The building was used by the CCC as a garage and storage warehouse.
Idaho Daily Statesman, Boise, January 22, 1937, page 5






    MEDFORD, June 13.--An estimated 230 CCC enrollees were leaving the Medford district this week as headquarters announced plans for the quarterly troop movements.
    A special train originating at Marshfield is taking men from two camps, along with a number of special enrollees from the Vancouver Barracks district, to Fort Knox, Ky., for discharge or reassignment. Ninety-two men from Camp South Fork will embark from Medford and will pick up additional enrollees from the Sacramento district.
    Replacements are expected back in July. Headquarters said here that the South Fork camp would operate with a skeleton crew.
Oregon Journal, Portland, June 13, 1940, page 12