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


    WASHINGTON--(Spl.)--Robert Fechner, director of emergency conservation work, today made public two reports covering the conservation work activities o, the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps forest camps. The first, compiled by the census bureau from work total sheets forwarded to Washington from the forest camps, includes a complete record of all the forest and park conservation, improvement and protection work done by the 350,000 men of the corps during the 18 months' period ending September 30, 1934. The second report, prepared by the War Department, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, estimates the value of the thousands of miles of truck trails built, the hundreds of thousands of soil erosion dams constructed and the more than 100 other types of work completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps men at approximately $291,000,000.
    The first report disclosed that through September 30, the young men, war veterans, experienced woodsmen and Indians of the forest camps. had built 41,582 miles of truck trails through the forests, laid 25,089 miles of telephone tines through forest and park lands, opened up 27,989 miles of firebreaks through timbered areas, reduced fire hazards over 825,808 acres of timbered lands, spent 1,605,000 man-days fighting fire, planted 204,000,000 trees, improved 1,392,000 acres of timber stands through removal of obstructions and the thinning out of undesirable trees, covered 2,922,000 acres in a drive to reduce timber losses caused by insect pests, carried on campaigns against tree-attacking diseases over 2,657,000 acres, conducted control operations against rodents over 9,672,782 acres, developed better recreational facilities over tens of thousands of acres of national park, state park and national forest lands, constructed 778,000 soil erosion prevention dams and completed a substantial amount of other types of work including flood control, timber surveying, construction of lookout houses and fire towers, rodent control operations and wildlife conservation.
    In the second report, the various cooperating departments reported as follows in regard to the valuations of the work done:

	Dept. of Agriculture	$223,776,762.56
	Dept. of the Interior	64,327,945.45
	Department of War	3,583,734.21
	Total	$291,696,443.22

    The emergency conservation work program, through the allocation of
$20,000,000 for land purchases, made possible the acquisition of millions of acres of new national forest and national park lands. Through September 30, $17,992,424 of this $20,000,000 had been obligated. The acreages acquired included additions to the national forests amounting to 4,892,804 acres and additions to the national parks amounting to 67,100 acres.
    "The work accomplished to date has proved of great value in reducing losses normally caused each year by forest fires, insects and diseases," says Director Fechner. "It should result in cutting down such losses in the future. The thousands of miles of truck trails which have been constructed will make it possible to move trucks, men and firefighting equipment quickly into areas endangered by fires. These protective trails represent permanent investments in forest fire protection. The removal of such excessive fire risks as old dead trees and rotting logs from valuable timber areas reduces the fire hazard for years to come. Firebreaks constructed through forested areas will assist in the suppression of fires when they develop. The thousands of miles of new telephone facilities and the new fire towers and observation towers constructed throughout our forests and parks will expedite the prompt detection and reporting of fires.
    "The presence of the hundreds of thousands of CCC men in the woods during the fire danger months of the past year and a halfn together with the big increase in truck trail mileage and other firefighting facilities built by the CCC, have proved of great value in holding down fire losses. Since the CCC work began, the enrollees have expended more than 1,665,000 man-days fighting forest fires. More than 900,000 man-days were spent by CCC men on the firefighting line this past summer and fall. Officials of the Forest Service and National Park Service assert that the presence of this large potential group of firefighters has made it possible to hold fire losses well below comparable years during this past season. The two services concur in the opinion that had it not been for the protective work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps men the fire losses would have been much greater.
    "Control measures to reduce the damages caused by rodents and tree diseases have been carried forward successfully. With the aid of more than 12,000 enrollees the blister rust division of the Department of Agriculture has launched its first major drive against the white pine blister rust, the most dangerous tree disease threatening our forests in the campaign against this fungus menace to our remaining stands of white pine; the forest workers eradicated more than 100 million currant and gooseberry bushes from pine areas. These bushes act as alternate hosts in the spread of this disease. Effective work has been done by the Civilian Conservation Corps in campaigns against the gypsy moth, bark beetles and rodents."
Medford Mail Tribune, January 4, 1935, page 15


    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


    John B. Griffing, civic educational adviser for ninth corps area, CCC, will be in Medford Friday and Saturday, February 8 and 9, to attend a meeting of district headquarters of all company commanders, educational advisers and project superintendents of the district. Several prominent Forest Service officials from the regional offices at Portland are also expected to attend.
    Griffing will bring a resume of his findings in the Vancouver, Fort Lewis, Fort Wright, Boise and Fort Douglas, Utah districts. He is in charge of educational work in the CCC camps of eight western states.
    George Griffith, public relationship superintendent of forestry activities for the western area with headquarters at Portland, has been given a special invitation to attend, as have the Umpqua Forest Service and Siskiyou Forest Service  personnels.
    One session of the meeting will be given over to a detailed discussion of the educational activities of the district, as affecting the military and educational advisory. The second session will be a general discussion of regulations and carrying out of regulations, and on Saturday Major Clare H. Armstrong, district commander, will preside over a military organization meeting, followed by an educational advisers meeting over which Captain William C. Ryan, welfare officer, will preside.
    On Saturday evening a dinner dance will be held at Hotel Medford.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 3, 1935, page 3


    WASHINGTON, Feb. 7.--(AP)--An enlisted reserve force of more than 100,000 partially trained young men recruited from CCC camps is proposed in a bill now being drafted by General Douglas MacArthur, army chief of staff.
    MacArthur's bill, being drawn at the suggestion of the house military committee, would provide for voluntary enlistment of CCC camp graduates for two months intense military training. After the two months they would revert to inactive status.
    There is now no available reserve men to fill the ranks of the regular army quickly in an emergency, MacArthur told the house committee. The young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps, toughened by work in the forest camps, would make ideal recruits for a short, intensive training course, he said.
    After serving two months the enrollees would be paid $24 per year, sufficient to maintain their interest in keeping the War Department informed of their whereabouts, and periodically presenting themselves for physical examination.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 7, 1935, page 1


    Fighters from the district's most distant CCC camps will meet on the Elks smoker at the club arena tonight.
    The matches will be a continuation of the CCC cards being staged to select the district's best fighters, and all the boys on the card will be battling to win.
    La Fosta, flashy bantamweight from Humbug Mountain, will tangle with the fast Talermo of China Flats, in one of the feature battles of the evening. Two big men will meet when Romano, China Flats' light heavyweight champion, tangles with Glad of Humbug.
    King and Petrosky, two junior middleweights of Coos Head, will be matched against Oak Knoll's challengers in this division, while Brubaker of Coos Head will meet an opponent from Oak Knoll.
    The Marshfield area delegation had arrived and were awaiting the arrival of the Yreka battlers before definite matches were made. The men are given physical examinations and weighed in on the afternoon of the fights, in order to assure well-matched battles.
    The smoker will follow the regular lodge session, and is open to members only.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 7, 1935, page 4


    A two-day conference of CCC educational advisers, company commanders and project superintendents of Medford district will start here tomorrow with a meeting of commanders at headquarters detachment, and educational advisers at the courthouse auditorium.
    Dr. John B. Griffing, ninth corps educational adviser, will be principal speaker at the meeting of educational advisers, bringing with him a resume of his findings during the year throughout the eight western states comprising the district.
    George Griffith, public relationship superintendent of forestry activities for the western area, with headquarters at Portland, has been given a special invitation to attend, as have officials of Umpqua, Siskiyou and Rogue River national forests, and of officials of the regional Forest Service offices at Portland.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 7, 1935, page 7


    DeShields, 165-pound colored flash from Oak Knoll, smashed his way to a second round knockout over Glabb, 173, Humbug Mountain, in the main event of the CCC smoker at the Elks club Thursday evening.
    The fight was by no means a one-sided affair, for Glabb came out of his corner at the opening bell and rocked DeShields repeatedly with solid blows to the head. The two traded punches on an even basis, neither paying attention to defense, but Glabb appeared to have the edge in the first canto.
    The second round started fast and DeShields suddenly broke through with a resounding smack to the jaw that floored Glabb. The Humbug gladiator arose, glassy-eyed, and DeShields administered the coup de grace with another haymaker that sent Glabb down for keeps.
    Palermo, 124, China Flats, won a decision over Jenkins, 120, Indian Creek, in the semi-final event. The little boys kept the crowd in an uproar with their unskilled but enthusiastic wallops.
    Mercado, 149, Indian Creek, won the nod over King, 151, Coos Head, in another thriller. Both boys waded in as if they enjoyed it, and Mercado's superior condition gave him the edge.
    Brubaker, 135, Coos Head, took the decision over Espinor, 138, Oak Knoll, in an encounter that did not lack for color. The stocky Espinor put up a good scrap, but the taller Brubaker harassed him with long-range shots.
    Gudagna, 114, Oak Knoll, was given the nod over LeFasto, 120, Humbug Mountain, in the curtain raiser. LeFasto went down twice but kept bearing in for more until the final bell.
    A large number of Elks attended the smoker and free feed which followed.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 8, 1935, page 13


    Camp commanders and educational advisers of the Medford district have returned to their camps, following a two-day educational conference held here Friday and Saturday.
    Dr. J. B. Griffing, civil educational adviser of the ninth corps area, was here to confer with the officers and educators on camp problems. He said the Medford conference was the first two-day educational meeting ever held in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He characterized the program here as the most progressive in the United States and said that many features of the Medford district educational work are being recommended for camps in every corps area by the educational department at Washington, D.C.
    The Medford district is the first in the United States to have a separate schoolhouse in every camp; it is the first to have moving picture projectors in every camp, and has pioneered with schools for mess stewards, cooks and bakers, company clerks and motor transport personnel. A correspondence course for officers, dealing with the administrative problems peculiar to camp life, has been another district feature which has received wide commendation.
    Major Clare H. Armstrong, district commander, presided at the conference, which was followed Saturday evening by a dinner and dance at the Medford Hotel. George Griffith, public relations representative of the regional forest office, was among the principal speakers at the meetings. Heads of the Park Service, Forest Service and other agencies were present for the conference which was held in the Jackson County courthouse auditorium.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 11, 1935, page 10


    CAMP OREGON CAVES, KERBY, Ore., Feb. 12.--(Spl.)--With clearing weather rapid progress is being made in the emergency conservation work program at Camp Oregon Caves. Excavation has been virtually completed at the site of the 38,000-gallon reinforced concrete water storage reservoir being installed in connection with the water system under construction to augment the present water supply to the Oregon Caves monument.
    Nine thousand pounds of steel have been received and transported to the site, and it is expected that forms will be set and concrete poured within the next ten days. Nearly two miles of three and four-inch pipe have been purchased for this project, delivery of which will be made the forepart of next week.
    Improvements on the trail system leading to major points of interest within and adjacent to the monument have been surveyed and work started on the rerouting of the trail to the Big Fir tree. It is planned to have this trail completed within a month and the other important trails completed by the first of April.
    Work on improving the trail system within the caves is going on apace. Headroom is being increased, doing away with many "headache rocks." Drainage systems are being installed to eliminate sloppy conditions underfoot. Where necessary the trail is being widened and steps are being constructed which, together with improved rampways, will prevent slipping and make it easier to climb the steeper portion of the trail.
    The "Devil's Backbone" is being removed, thus doing away with one of the most difficult passageways in the entire route through the caves. The water system that runs the entire length of the caves has been temporarily disconnected, and an air compressor has been installed which is tied into the pipeline, making compressed air available for the use of compressed air tools at all required points.
    Fences and guard rails are being installed at all points where there is any danger of a person slipping. A masonry wall and masonry seats have been placed in the "Ghost Room" at the balcony below the "Widow Maker" to permit a few minutes' rest for tourists through the Marble Halls of Oregon. It is expected that by the end of March the entire trail system will have been greatly improved. The caves will then be open to the most timid tourist, while at the same time none of the natural picturesque features will be altered.
    The truck trail being built by enrollees from this camp for the Forest Service is being pushed rapidly forward, and with improving weather it is expected that even better progress will be made than in the past. Timbers have been cut, excavations for footings started and materials ordered for an 80-foot span timber bridge across Sucker Creek to connect the trail with the state highway system.
    Materials have been ordered for a community house to be built in the Grayback Forest Service public campground. The forest camp at this location has been cleared of down timber and dying trees, and the whole site is being prepared for a large influx of summer tourists.
    Visitors at the camp this week included Major Dark from the Medford army CCC headquarters on a periodic inspection of the camp, and "Mel" Lewis, assistant forest supervisor of Siskiyou National Forest, on a survey of Forest Service work projects.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 12, 1935, page 7


    VANCOUVER, Wash., Feb. 14--(AP)--Two army officers from Vancouver barracks were touring Oregon and Washington today is search of sites for additional CCC camps.
    Word has been received here that 30 additional camps are to be established in the two states. This army center now provides supplies for 27 camps.
    Each camp costs about $10,000 to construct, and word from Washington, D.C., has said union laborers are to be given the first chance at the work and that the prevailing wage scale will be paid. Heretofore workers have been enlisted from employment offices.
    A group of labor union leaders from Portland conferred with army officers here yesterday and discussed the work projects. 
Medford Mail Tribune, February 14, 1935, page 1


    Brigadier General Otho Rosenbaum, commanding general of the ninth corps area, visited the Medford district CCC headquarters on an inspection trip today.
    General Rosenbaum was en route from Fort Lewis, his former post, to the ninth corps area headquarters in San Francisco. He assumed command of the corps area upon the departure of Major General Malin Craig, who has been placed in command of the Army War College at Washington, D.C.
    General Rosenbaum inspected the Wimer Camp, near here, Tuesday. The district cooks and bakers school is being carried on at Camp Wimer, and the general was interested in the success of the project.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 14, 1935, page 3


    The headquarters detachment will enjoy a special turkey dinner Saturday to celebrate the winning of the Medford zone basketball championship. The detachment team defeated Elk Creek in the deciding game of the series, Thursday night, 33 to 19, and Lieut. Charles H. Jeffress, detachment commander, is fulfilling his promise of a chicken dinner for a victory.
    The Elk Creek team put up a game fight, and the members of the team have been invited to partake in the chicken dinner as guests of the detachment.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 15, 1935, page 1


    Taking advantage of their last chance to win a place in the Medford district CCC championships, ten of the leading fighters in the area will meet Thursday night on the Elks CCC smoker at the Elks temple.
    The card will be the last of the four elimination cards staged for the purpose of selecting the district's outstanding fighters, and it will be the fighters' last opportunity to prove they deserve a place on the big title card.
    Captain William C. Ryan, district athletic officer, is picking a choice group of fighters to appear on the final elimination card. Several outstanding boys who have won intercamp matches in other cities will be brought here to show their wares. Fighters from the Marshfield and Yreka areas as well as from camps in the vicinity of Medford will make up the five-bout card.
    Lieut. Henry Phelan, matchmaker at Yreka, who has brought some of the cleverest fighters of the district here, will be back with a delegation of leather slingers from camps in Northern California and plans to pair them with the class of the Roseburg and Marshfield areas.
    The Elks-CCC series has given Medford something out of the ordinary in boxing entertainment, for all of the boys are hard fighters and make up for any lack of finesse by a willingness to trade blows at close range.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 17, 1935, page 4


    For the second consecutive month Co. 1746, Camp Kerby, was given the February flag as the best all-around camp comprised of local experienced men in the Medford CCC district. The award, a green and white pennant, is given monthly for efficiency in camp and company administration, policing, mess operation and work carried on in the forest, which is judged by the Forest Service.
    Camp Cape Sebastian, comprised of "junior" enrollees, largely from the East, was awarded the Junior flag, which last month was given Camp Clear Creek. Camp Steamboat, Camp Rand, and Camp Carberry were given places in the honorable mention column for Junior companies.
    Camp Devils Flat, Camp Elk Creek and Camp Yreka were awarded honorable mention in local experienced men division.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 5, 1935, page 2


    De Priest, the knockout artist from Oak Knoll, will clash with Chief Thomas, Bradford's great Indian fighter, in the semi-final event on the Elks CCC smoker Thursday evening.
    This was announced Wednesday by Capt. William C. Ryan, district athletic officer, upon receipt of word from the coast that Glabb of Humbug Mountain is in the infirmary and will be unable to appear.
    Glabb was knocked out in the second round of his fight with De Priest here some time ago and a rematch had been slated. In Thomas, De Priest will find an opponent worthy of his steel. Thomas, whose appearances in the north have won him a considerable reputation, has not appeared here before, as no suitable opponent could be found for the deadly redskin.
    The shift in the card, although it will eliminate the De Priest-Glabb rematch, will probably result in an even better contest. De Priest has yet to be defeated, while the Indian will come here heavily supported by all who have seen him fight.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 6, 1935, page 7


    A program to restore old fortifications used in the Modoc Indian War and to improve the outstanding caves in Lava Beds National Monument was outlined today by David H. Canfield, superintendent of Crater Lake National Park. A 200-man CCC camp may soon be established at the Lava Beds and may come under the jurisdiction of Medford CCC district.
    Superintendent Canfield said that as the beds are in California, it is not certain whether the CCC camp will be included in the Medford, or in the adjoining California CCC district. Besides various historic buildings in the area, some 300 caves of much interest make the national monument outstanding.
    Under PWA appropriations, roads will be developed and an efficient well water supply will be provided, instead of the method now used--carrying water some distance.
    One hundred of the CCC men would be turned over to the division [omission] of grazing, in an effort to restore overgrazed public domain.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 6, 1935, page 10


Oregonian, Portland, March 11, 1935, page 12


    The five crack teams of the Medford CCC district will be in Medford Saturday to open the tournament that will decide the district champion.
    The tournament will start at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon in the high school gymnasium, with two games slated for the afternoon session. The meet will be continued with two more games Saturday night at 7:30 o'clock and will be concluded with the final two games Sunday afternoon at 2 o'clock.
    Here are the teams listed in the tournament, each being the champion of one of the five sub-districts:
    Yreka zone--Indian Creek.
    Medford zone--Headquarters Detachment
    Grants Pass zone--Oregon Caves
    Roseburg zone--Bradford
    Marshfield zone--Humbug Mountain.
    Both the Oregon Caves and Humbug Mountain outfits are undefeated this season, each having won ten straight games to take its sub-district title. The Detachment team won four straight to take the smaller Medford zone title.
    Local basketball fans are invited to attend the tournament free of charge, and it is hoped a good crowd will be on hand. While the local fans have had little opportunity to see the outside teams in action, they have had several occasions to see the Detachment outfit in action.
    Neugart is captain of the Headquarters team. He played on the Albany High School team for two years and then played on independent teams for two seasons before playing for Southern Oregon Normal in '31, '32, and '33. He is the second high scorer for the season.
    Hogan, Detachment forward, played three years at Walthill, Nebraska, and two seasons of independent basketball at Sioux City, Iowa. He is the season's high scorer and high point man of the last eight games.
    Hamm, another Detachment regular, played two years with the Missouri Military Academy at Mexico, Missouri, and two years with the St. Louis YMCA. He also played in the Roseville, Calif., commercial league.
    Gallatin, who played for four seasons with the Diplomat club, San Francisco, is another regular. Leeper, who saw regular service this season, will be unable to play in the tournament because of an injury. He played two years with the Waldport high school and one season with the Portland YMCA.
    Woods, a regular, was injured early in the season but recovered and is playing a good game now. He played for three years on the Alsea High School outfit.
    Upchurch, who played 3 seasons at Timewell and Versailles, Illinois, is another who will see action.
    Sam Van Dyke, of the Medford High team, will referee the games, and Dr. D. E. Wiedman, district educational coordinator, will umpire.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 15, 1935, page 10


    MARSHFIELD, Ore., March 19.--(AP)--Edward Hamilton, 20, member of the China Flat CCC camp near Powers, drowned in the Coquille River late yesterday. He had excused himself from a meeting of workers and officers to get a drink of water. When he failed to return a search was started,  and his body was found floating several hundred yards away. The body sank before fellow workers could reach it and had not been recovered this morning.
    Hamilton was to have been mustered out of the service and to have returned to his home in Chicago late this week.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 19, 1935, page 1


    The first of three special trains carrying CCC members to the Middle West for discharge will leave Medford Saturday, March 23, commanded by Major Clare H. Armstrong, district commander.
    The three trains will carry members who do not wish to enroll for the fifth CCC period. The first train will take about 175 men, 50 of whom will be from Camp China Flats and 125 from Camp Sebastian. Major Armstrong will be accompanied by First Lieut. Roy W. Otto, Cav. Res., as mess officer, and First Lieut. Frank L. Hoagland, Med.-Res., as medical officer. The train will take the men to Fort Sheridan, Ill., for discharge.
    The second of the special trains will leave here March 25, commanded by Captain Chauncey L. Pierce, with Capt. John R. Murray as mess officer and Captain Audley C. Joslyn as medical officer.
    The train will carry 377 men from the following companies: Humbug Mountain, 88; McKinley, 67; Oregon Caves, 85; South Fork, 84; and Rand, 53. The men will be discharged at Fort Sheridan.
    The third train will leave March 26 for Fort Crook, Neb., and Fort Sheridan, Ill. The officers to accompany this train have not yet been named. It will carry 409 men from the following companies; Seiad, 70; Sitkum, 47; Coos Head, 74; Wolf Creek, 75; Clear Creek, 86; and Steamboat, 57.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 1935, page 2


    SCOTT CITY, Kas., March 26.--(AP)--Two Portland, Ore., trainmen were severely injured and about 30 Oregon CCC recruits cut and bruised early today when a freight train plowed into an eastbound passenger train while taking a siding in front of the station at Shields, Kas.
    The freight train was on the main track. The engineer said he did not see the passenger train taking the siding on account of the dust.
    The fourth and fifth Pullman cars, loaded with sleeping CCC boys, were struck by the engine. One side of the fourth car was torn away as it was turned over and the fifth car was derailed and left tilting at a 45-degree angle.
    Pullman conductor P. T. Hardesty of Portland, Ore., suffered chest injuries and broken ribs and Porter C. E. Digbee of Portland suffered a wrenched back. Both were brought to a hospital here.
    Dr. Deal of Dighton was called for first aid to the CCC boys assisted by army doctors on the train.
    The CCC train of nine coaches was from Medford, Ore., headed for Fort Sheridan, outside of Chicago.
    Major Clare H. Armstrong, commander of the Medford CCC district, is commander of the CCC special train, which was struck to a freight train. First Lieutenant Roy W. Otto accompanied Major Armstrong as mess officer and Dr. Frank L. Hoagland as medical officer.
    Twenty-eight CCC men were injured in the accident, but none seriously, according to a wire received from Major Armstrong by Major Robert F. Dark, acting district commander. They were given immediate first aid treatment by the train surgeon, Dr. Hoagland, and none had to be taken to a hospital. The train was to be delayed about seven hours by the wreck.
    One hundred and seventy-five men, 50 of whom were from Camp China Flats and 125 from Camp Cape Sebastian, were on the special train. All were being taken back to Fort Sheridan for discharge at the end of their CCC enrollment period. The officers will return here at the completion of the trip.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 26, 1935, page 1


    The third special train to depart from this district with CCC enrollees for discharge in the Middle West left Medford Tuesday morning under command of Capt. Guy W. Saunders of Camp Wimer. Lieut. Robert R. Colwell of Rand was mess officer and Lieut. Clarence R. Blatchford of Humbug Mountain was medical officer.
    The train carried 228 men from the following companies: Coos Head, 35; Steamboat, 40; Wolf Creek, 55; Clear Creek, 43; Seiad, 30; Sebastian, 1; and Sitkum, 24.
    The train completes the movement of CCC members who are not reenrolling for the next period. The men will be replaced by new enrollees from the same areas. The train was to proceed to Fort Crook, Neb., and Fort Sheridan, Ill. All three of the officers were granted a seven-day leave en route, to visit friends and relatives in the Midwest.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 26, 1935, page 1


    Scott City, Kas., March 26.--(AP)--Two Portland trainmen were severely injured and about 30 Oregon CCC recruits cut and bruised early today when a freight train plowed into an eastbound passenger train while taking a siding in front of the station at Shields, Kas.
    The freight train was on the main track. The engineer said he did not see the passenger train taking the siding on account of the dust.
    The fourth and fifth Pullman cars, loaded with sleeping CCC boys, were struck by the engine. One side of the fourth car was torn away as it was turned over and the fifth car was derailed and left tilting at a 45-degree angle.
    Pullman Conductor P. T. Hardesty of Portland suffered chest injuries and broken ribs, and Porter C. E. Digbee of Portland suffered a wrenched back. Both were brought to a hospital here.
    Dr. Deal of Dighton was called for first aid to the CCC boys, assisted by army doctors on the train.
    The CCC train of nine coaches was from Medford, Or., headed for Fort Sheridan, outside of Chicago.
    The CCC boys in the wreck had completed enlistments in camps of Southern Oregon. They were mobilized last weekend at Grants Pass and Medford.
    Their homes were in Chicago and nearby Illinois cities.
Oregon Journal, Portland, March 26, 1935, page 1


    With the cooperation of the county and the U.S. Forest Service, several miles of extremely crooked road along Big Applegate River on the west side between Cameron bridge and Seattle Bar is being straightened, it was announced today at the Medford Forest Service offices.
    A crew of men from Applegate CCC camp is doing the work, with the county furnishing the machinery and the Forest Service, materials. Several sharp, dangerous turns both above and below Star ranger station are being eliminated. The crew has been at work since March 7.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 29, 1935, page 5


    PORTLAND, March 30.--(AP)--A dispatch to the Journal today from Washington, D.C. said the National Park Service has reported to Senator McNary that it hopes to assign a CCC camp to the Prescott Memorial Park in Jackson County.
    Prescott Memorial Park, on Roxy Ann, east of Medford, has been received by the National Park Service and if the proposed expansion of emergency conservation work takes place, it is likely a camp will be established there.
    The move was initiated by the Jackson County chamber of commerce in an effort to secure further development work for the memorial park, which is expected to become one of the favorite show places of this vicinity.
    WASHINGTON, March 30.--(AP)--Senator McNary's bill to add 59,000 acres to the Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon was passed by the Senate Friday. The lands embrace some of the best virgin timber in the state and are unsuited to agriculture. About 57,000 acres are privately owned, the Coos Bay Lumber Company holding title to most of it. The rest is federal or Oregon and California Railroad grant land.
    Two other bills sponsored by Senator McNary were approved. They call for a preliminary examination of Umpqua River and tributaries with a view of flood control, and a similar examination of the Coquille River.
    Senator Steiwer of Oregon was successful in gaining approval of his bill for flood control surveys of the Nehalem, Miami, Kilchis, Wilson, Trask and Tillamook rivers, and Senator McNary added the Willamette River to the list.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 31, 1935, page 3


    Copies of the first edition of The Gasquet Gazette, camp paper of Camp Gasquet F-18, 1344th Company CCC, at Crescent City, were received in Medford today, the paper having come off the press March 23. The Gazette will be published each month in the interests of the enrollees of Camp Gasquet, by the camp's journalism class.
    Under the editorship of Harold Benedict and the advisorship of Wallace C. Griffith, interesting camp news is presented, as well as humor columns. A feature of the four-column, four-page paper is a striking masthead. The paper includes a brief history of Camp Gasquet, which was organized May 21, 1933, under Capt. Shirley B. Hunt.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 31, 1935, page 14


    Officers of Medford CCC district and their lady guests will give a farewell dinner and dance at the Lithia Hotel in Ashland Saturday night honoring Major Robert F. Dark, district executive officer, who has been ordered to duty at Knoxville, Tenn. Eighty are expected to attend. The committee in charge will be First Lieut. Leslie G. Ross, First Lieut. Theodore P. Coates and Second Lieut. Roy D. Craft.
    Mrs. Dark will be unable to attend, having been called to San Francisco by the serious illness of her father. Before leaving for his new post in Knoxville, Major Dark will have two months' leave of absence, and he and Mrs. Dark plan to vacation on the Pacific Coast, returning the first of June to attend the graduation exercises of their niece, Miss Frances Elaine Combes, who has been living with the Darks and attending Medford High School.
    Major Dark reported for duty in the Medford district from Eugene district July 28, 1933, and was promoted to the rank of Major Oct. 1, 1934. He assumed command of the district last month during the absence of Major Clare H. Armstrong, who is expected to return Friday from a trip to the Middle West, during which he was in command of a casual train.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 3, 1935, page 4


    The jackhammer crews of the CCC side camp at Talent have just finished an interesting rock-drilling contest.
    Working 21 shifts of 8 hours each, these two crews drilled 2324 and 2323½ feet of hard rock each.
    At the end of each day's work the record for the day was posted, and toward the finish every man in camp was pulling for his favorite crew.
    An average of 110⅔ and 110 9/14 feet, respectively, was accomplished for a day's work, and is a record for any three-man crew.
    The winners were Floyd Munden, Reino Raikko and John Berberick. Tommy Walker, Eddie Davis and Farrel Snider were second, losing by only seven inches.
    Cigarettes were awarded as prizes by the Forest Service superintendent, L. H. McGuire, and foreman True Lewis.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 3, 1935, page 10


    CAMP APPLEGATE, CCC, April 3.--(Spl.)--To celebrate the second anniversary of both the CCC and the organization of Camp Applegate, Co. 926, a 36-page special edition of The Sluice Box appeared March 25.
    The cover pages were done in golden red yellow with the picture of the entrance gate to the camp in green as the cover design. The book was dedicated to the men with a picture of President Roosevelt on the dedication page. The book, composed of four sections, included the features, the history of the camp and each enrollee's record on the work projects, sports and humor, and a copy of everyone's personal signature written on the stencil by the enrollees. 
Medford Mail Tribune, April 3, 1935, page 10


    CAMP WIMER, April 4.--(Spl.)--Medford will be the nerve center of a 75-mile-long system of forest trails and telephone lines connecting Sexton Mountain, King Mountain and Battle Mountain lookout stations when the Oregon boys who compose this Medford district CCC company,get through carrying out the plans of Lynn F. Cronemiller, state forester. It is expected that the work will be finished by the fall of 1936. Intensive summer work will proceed full blast as soon as replacements bring Captain Guy W. Saunders' all-Oregon company to full strength about April 10th.
    Work on the Evans Creek-Medford telephone line, which has been pushed through the winter, is now within two weeks of completion. Two bulldozers, taking advantage of the better weather of the past week, are working seven ten-hour shifts a week slashing road up the gulches toward the still-snowclad ridges where the control roads will run. When the work is finished, lookouts will be able at the first tiny wisp of smoke to set in motion flying squadrons of trucks and men out of Medford, Rogue River or Grants Pass to bring the fire under immediate control. By this project four whole townships of fir- and pine-covered slopes and gold-bearing creeks will be brought under the fire protection of the state forester.
    Prospectors are thronging into Evans Creek, Pleasant Creek and Grave Creek this year because of the deep snow on the mountains which promises ample water supply until probably July. For them and others who will follow next year the CCC is building roads which will make the formerly inaccessible creeks easy of entrance with supplies. Thus fire control will make more accessible one of the natural resources of this country. Jackson County's summer population will be increased by many a creek miner who will push the gold frontier farther back into the Cascades. One of the loop trails will go round the head of Grave Creek, making every point on that stream easily approachable.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 4, 1935, page 9


    BIG APPLEGATE, April 8.--(Spl.)--Company 926, Civilian Conservation Corps, stationed at Camp Applegate, will be transferred, probably this month, to Camp Jordan Valley in Eastern Oregon, according to orders received a few days ago from the 9th corps area headquarters in San Francisco. Men in spike camps at Talent and Star Ranger Station and all recruits removed from camp headquarters at present have been ordered to be back in camp withing the next few days. Local Forest Service attaches will remain here, and it is understood will continue their duties with a new company to be transferred to Camp Applegate.
    The 100 men in camp, most of whom are from Portland, are looking forward to new experiences in Jordan Valley, which previously did not possess a CCC camp. It is reported that the work program there will be given over to a reclamation project, and that the camp will be entirely under supervision of the army without Forest Service direction. Men who are credited with overtime work here will not be extended the privilege of using this time in the new camp.
    Camp Applegate was established two years ago, and has ranked high among camps of the Medford district in all phases of work.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 8, 1935, page 8


    GRANTS PASS, April 9.--(Spl.)--The Electric Welding and Machinery Company in Grants Pass was awarded the contract to supply the Medford CCC district with five circular saws, it has been announced here.
    The gasoline-driven saws are mounted on skids so that they may be easily transported through the forests where wood is to be cut for the CCC camps.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 9, 1935, page 4


    CAMP WIMER, April 9.--(Spl.)--The laurel wreath rested firmly on the heads of Oregon boys when awards were announced by Medford district CCC headquarters for the month of March. Camp Wimer's company 964, all-Oregon junior company, was declared best in the district. The flag awarded by Major Clare H. Armstrong will fly from Wimer's flagpole as soon as it arrives from Cape Sebastian, where it spent the last month. Company 964 will be remembered for splendid work done at Agness during the summer of 1934 where the members were specially commended for fire fighting.
    Officers of the military staff are Captain Guy W. Saunders, commanding, Lt. Andrew J. Hemstreet, Lt. (Doctor) L. D. Hansen, Lt. Kermit M. Johnson and adviser Donald Mace. The technical staff are Supt. Paul Thompson; foremen, P. D. Coy, Earl Coffman, L. W. Amort, E. C. Beach, W. A. White; operators, John Connie and Clayton Akin; and blacksmith Wm. Dunbrack. The company is now engaged in making 75 miles of roads and telephone lines connecting Sexton Mtn., King Mtn., and Battle Mtn. to bring the northern townships of Jackson County under the fire control of State Forester Lynn F. Cronemiller.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 9, 1935, page 8


    CAMP WIMER, CCC.--(Spl.)--Anticipating the prefabricated house recently perfected by eastern companies, Camp Wimer's CCC technical staff has devised a three-section unit house for use in side camps. The new houses, composed of sections bolted together, can easily be demounted, loaded on trucks and moved from one work project to another, thus effecting a great saving in labor and materials. Thus in Medford district, men in side camps will live warm and comfortable in buildings which are almost as easily moved as tents.
    Each roof, side wall and floor is composed of three sections bolted together with ⅜-inch iron bolts easily removable. The roof rests on "A" frames, which are themselves bolted into the side plates. The arrangement is so simple that a crew of four can dismount and load a bunkhouse in an hour and a half. State Forester Lynn F. Cronemiller has approved the new plans, and similar buildings will be built as the need arises in side camps of other state ECW camps.
    In Jack Creek camp, side camp of Wimer, all the buildings are portable, one of them being a house of the new type. The other Wimer side camp two miles north of Medford on the old Crater Lake road is composed entirely of the three-section unit type. When completed this camp will be capable of housing 48 men.
    A side camp for 48 men includes six bunk houses for eight men each, a mess hall and kitchen, a recreation hall, a meat house, an infirmary, a tool shed, a latrine and an oil shed.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 10, 1935, page 2


    WASHINGTON, April 12.--(AP)--Enrollment of the 300,000 new men for the Civilian Conservation Corps within 60 days was promised today by Robert Fechner, CCC director, after a conference with President Roosevelt on this phase of the $4,000,000,000 work-relief program.
    Fechner went over with President Roosevelt his recommendations for 1500 new camps in the 48 states. Early presidential approval of the plan is in prospect.
    The War Department would build the camps and Fechner expressed the belief it will be possible to complete the job and enroll the 300,000 new men within a two months' period. The work law authorizes a CCC corps 600,000 strong.
    Mr. Roosevelt, in pushing forward the $4,000,000,000 program, was represented as relying on the CCC as one of the first points of action. It was believed the corps will permit absorption of some of the college graduates coming out of school this June who might be unable to find work otherwise.
    The president also had on his calling list today Rexford G. Tugwell, undersecretary of agriculture, who is expected to take a part in the work relief effort.
    Moving deliberately, the president had with him during the work relief conferences Daniel Bell, acting director of the budget, for advice on allocating funds.
    Relief administration figures showed that 6 percent of all farm owners and 16 percent of tenants and share croppers were on relief last October. The proportion of tenants on relief was as high as 63 percent in the spring wheat counties.
    About one-third of the farmers on relief were owners and two-thirds were tenants and croppers.
   CCC headquarters here have as yet received no official information as to what effect the passage of the relief bill will have on the Medford CCC district. They will have no word on the matter until official orders are received, probably in a week or 10 days, and possibly longer, it was said.
    It is generally understood here, however, that the increased enrollment will bring many new men here, and strength is lent to the prospects for the establishment of a new camp at the base of Roxy Ann. When, and if, the camp is established, work will probably be continued on the Prescott Memorial Park at the summit of the mountain.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 12, 1935, page 1


    Oregon Caves CCC camp is celebrating its second anniversary with a dance tonight at the Oregon Caves chateau ballroom, according to word received from George Whitworth, project superintendent. Anthony R. Manno is to be master of ceremonies. About 80 are expected to attend and, although the CCC boys were doubtful about finding dancing partners, it is expected that a bevy of girls will attend from Kerby and the Illinois River Valley.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 12, 1935, page 7


    WASHINGTON, April 15.--(AP)--Senator Steiwer of Oregon today made public a list of 26 additional CCC camps which will be operated in Oregon during the coming summer under the expanded program of the Civilian Conservation Corps. There are already 39 camps in Oregon, making the total 65.
    Eight of the camps will be re-established as follows:
    Camp Sherman, Jefferson County; Cascade Locks, Hood River County; Elk Creek and Ruch, Jackson County; Port Orford, Curry County, Mapleton, Lane County; Roseburg, Douglas County; Detroit, Marion County.
    New camps will be established:
    Elk Lake, Deschutes County; Silver Lake and Paisley Lake, Lake County; Burns, Harney County, Medford (land grant), Jackson; Yachats and Triangle Lake, Lane County; Drain (land grant), Douglas County; Hilyard (private), Union County; Falls City, Polk County; Tillamook, Tillamook County; Lacomb (private), Linn County.
    Biological survey camps:
    Burns and French Glen, Harney County.
    State parks:
    Long Tom, Lane County; Battle Mountain, Umatilla County; Shelton, Wheeler County; Prescott Memorial, Jackson County.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 15, 1935, page 1


    CAMP KERBY CCC, April 12.--(Special)--Camp Kerby, F-47, Selma, Oregon, seems to be in a class by itself when it comes to winning Medford district "Best Camp" pennants. In the past six months this camp has won the honor four times and been among the first three places twice. Co. 1746 is composed of local experienced men who live in the vicinity of Grants Pass and Gold Beach. Although the members are older in years than the boys in the junior companies, they show by the way they respond to the leadership of the army officers and the foremen of the Forest Service in building roads, telephone lines, shop work and building construction, that they enjoy the thrill that comes as a reward for a task well done.
    The company had its origin at Jefferson barracks, Missouri, on June 7, 1933, and the advance cadre of 35 Missouri junior enrollees arrived in Oregon, commanded by Major J. T. Murray, Inf-dol.  on June 20, 1933. Captain Harold E. Stow assumed command of the company on June 26, 1933, and remained with the company until October of that year, at which time Captain Chauncy L. Pierce, Inf. Res., took over the command.
    It was during this time Captain Pierce was in command that the company was made a "special company." At this time the remaining seventeen Missouri junior members were returned to the seventh corps area, and the company was filled to full strength with local experienced men living in Josephine County.
    In April, 1934, the company was moved to Camp Lower Pistol River in Curry County and the vacancies, which then existed, were filled by residents of both Josephine and Curry counties. In was in May, 1934, that Captain James O. Wanzer, Eng.-Res., present commander, was assigned to the company. October, 31, 1934, saw the company back in its old home at Camp Kerby and ready to continue its habit of setting the pace for the other good companies in the Medford district.
    The Forest Service superintendent, George A. Davis, has been in charge of the work projects since June, 1933, with the exception of November and December, 1933, when J. K. Blair, ranger at the Redwoods ranger station, acted as project superintendent.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 15, 1935, page 6


    VANCOUVER BARRACKS, Wash.--(Spl.)--Benefiting from a recent order which has more than doubled the tentative quota, Jackson County now will be entitled to send 10 students to the tenth annual Citizen's Military Training Camp at his post starting July 5th, it was announced today.
    The quota was set first at 218, but this has just been raised to 480; and Brigadier-General James K. Parsons, camp commander, has directed that the increase be distributed proportionately to the counties.
    The camp, as formerly, will run for four weeks, and will be without cost to the trainees, including transportation to and from home.
    The students live in an orderly tent camp, follow a program in which work and play are blended with heavy emphasis upon athletics and recreation, and enjoy a menu especially arranged for quantity and quality. The camp is open to boys 17 years old or over, and both former students and beginners are to be accepted.
    General Parsons asks that prospective applicants communicate as soon as possible with the camp authorities, addressing communication to C.M.T.C. Headquarters, Vancouver Barracks, Washington, or call upon their county chairmen if more convenient. The enrollment chairman in Jackson County is Carl Y. Tengwald, Medford.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 15, 1935, page 8


    The opening of the Elks-CCC fight series, tentatively scheduled for April 18, has been postponed because of the re-enrollment of CCC men and the movement of camps.
    Capt. William C. Ryan, district athletic officer who has had charge of the fight cards, announced today that the contemplated series will not get started this week as originally planned. The series will end with a big outdoors card and picnic in June.
    As soon as the present unsettled condition is over, the series will be started. A number of outstanding 3-C fighters have signified their intention of battling for new district honors.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 16, 1935, page 3


    Breynton R. Finch, ranger for Crater Lake National Park now stationed at Lava Beds National Monument, Cal., escaped injury Thursday noon when a CCC truck he was driving plunged off an embankment on the Greensprings Highway and turned over twice, at a point four miles above Klamath Falls junction.
    Finch said he necessarily was driving the big truck on the extreme right side of the road and struck a soft shoulder at the same instant he took his eyes off the road to investigate the overheated engine. He said the next thing he knew the truck was on its side 75 feet below the highway. The truck was damaged considerably.
    He was driving the vehicle back to the Lava Beds after having attended a fire guard training school at South Fork of the Rogue CCC camp.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 19, 1935, page 5


    CAMP WIMER, April 22.--(Spl.)--A total of 41 Jackson and Josephine County boys, many of them from Medford, got their first taste of life in the CCC when they reported for duty to Captain Guy W. Saunders here today. An additional 28 boys from Multnomah County also reported for duty, bringing the company to approximately two-thirds full strength. As rapidly as the boys are conditioned, they will be distributed to the three points where the Wimer work project is being undertaken.
    The Wimer drum and bugle corps, depleted by the departure of several members at the end of the fourth period, will draw new life from the ranks of the recruits. A number of the new men are ball players, and baseball practice will begin this week.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1935, page 2


    Dr. D. E. Wiedman, educational coordinator for Medford CCC district, was the main speaker at the regular luncheon this noon of Medford Kiwanis Club held at Hotel Medford. His subject was "Vocational Training for Boys."
    Dr. Wiedman said that in the training work carried on by the CCC for boys between the ages of 18 to 25, the past five years has witnessed the greatest change the world has ever seen. More than 1,000,000 boys have passed through the CCC, and there are 300,000 in camps at present, an enrollment which may be doubled under a plan in Washington, Dr. Wiedman said.
    In the 28 camps of the Medford district there are 5800 men whom the government is training, he said. Medford is the "railhead for the 41 camps in Oregon, which will probably be increased to 60 under the expansion program," the speaker continued, pointing out the tremendous help to the community this will mean from an economic standpoint.
    In the government's effort to "retrain" the CCC boys through an educational adviser in every camp, an opportunity is given all boys to pursue their studies, Dr. Wiedman said. In a report made to the corps area headquarters by the Medford district, the speaker said it was disclosed April 1 that there are 577 volunteer teachers and 517 courses open to the boys, who have read 30,515 books and completed hundreds of correspondence courses.
    The club was entertained by the weekly Kiwanis quartet, composed of Max Pierce, C. C. Lemmon, Ted GeBauer and R. W. Frame. Paul Carpenter of the Bozeman, Mont., club, and connected with Oregon State College faculty, was a guest.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1935, page 5


    CAMP WIMER, April 22.--(Spl.)--Ground was broken here today for the new athletic field which will soon make it possible for every member of this Medford district company to take part in his favorite form of athletics. The new field adjoining the camp includes about 15 acres of flat land in Pleasant Creek Valley. First project to be completed in the new field is the baseball diamond. The infield has been graded and smoothed in ground which gets hard in the summer heat so that the Wimer Bobcat infield will have no bad-hop alibis in the coming struggle for supremacy in the Medford district baseball series.
    Those CCC boys who are addicted to chasing the white pellet will be able to tee off from the new athletic field for the first of a nine-hole golf course which will be full of enough natural hazards to chill the heart of a professional golfer. The choppers and slicers will bounce them off trees and bury them in the creeks. All members of the company who own clubs or can borrow them automatically become members of the Wimer country club.
    A tennis court and a quarter-mile track will be included in the new field. There will be pits for the high and broad jump and for pole vaulting. Throwers of the javelin, putters of the shot, throwers of the hammer and archers will all have a place to work out. A tennis court will be provided for those who had to be satisfied with pingpong during the winter months. Captain Saunders aims at giving every man in the company an outlet for his energies.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1935, page 7


    A trainload of new CCC enrollees, 107 of them, arrived in this city yesterday from Fort Sheridan, Ill., to report for duty at Co. 1642, Camp South Fork. Most of the men were recruited from in and near Chicago.
    The men were taken to their camp immediately upon their arrival. The trainload brings to this district the first consignment of new men to fill the vacancy left by the several trainloads who were discharged some time ago.
    Within a short time more recruits will be sent from the Middle West, and also destined for this area are many enlisted in and near Portland. They will be assigned to various camps in Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 23, 1935, page 8


    A special train from Fort Sheridan, Ill., brought 113 new CCC members for Camp Rand and 100 for Oregon Caves camp Wednesday. Lieut. Fred W. Green of Medford district headquarters met the train at Grants Pass and supervised the unloading of the recruits.
    Another special train will arrive on Thursday from Fort McArthur, Cal., with 74 men for Oak Knoll, 24 men for Yreka, 97 men for Indian Creek and 125 men for Evans Creek.
    Two specials will arrive in the district Friday. One from Fort Sheridan will have 14 men for Humbug Mountain, 135 for McKinley and 142 for China Flats. The other will be from Fort McArthur and will have 125 men for Elk Creek, 125 for Kerby and 85 for Gasquet.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 24, 1935, page 11


    Eighteen camps and Headquarters detachment will remain in the Medford CCC district when the present summer movement is completed, according to Major Clare H. Armstrong, district commander.
    Nine of the companies which have been in the Medford district during the period just past are now making preparations to move to other districts in the ninth corps area during the summer. The Medford district has been made up of 27 camps and the Headquarters detachment during the past six months.
    Although news dispatches from Washington, D.C. indicate a number of new companies will be assigned here as a part of the CCC expansion program, no official word of this has been received. The nineteen camps to remain here are those already in the district and do not include new companies which may be assigned here under the enlarged program.
    The companies leaving the district follow:
    Co. 602, Seiad, to Camp Lightning Creek, Fort George Wright district.
    Co. 611, Humbug Mountain, to Camp Silver Springs, Vancouver Barracks district.
    Co. 926, Applegate, to Camp Jordan Valley, Boise district.
    Co. 994, Hilt, to Camp Board Corrals, Redding district.
    Co. 1626, Camp Steamboat, to Camp Five Mile, Boise district.
    Co. 1629, Wolf Creek, to Camp Gap Ranch, Boise district.
    Co. 1641, Clear Creek to Camp Skin Creek, Fort George Wright district.
    Co. 1652, Camp Cape Sebastian, to Camp Emigrant Springs, Vancouver district.
    Co. 1907, Camp Spring Flat, to Camp Swinford Springs, Redding district.
    Seven companies will make moves within the district. They follow:
    Co. 966 from Carberry Creek to Dog Lake.
    Co. 1305 from Devils Flat to South Umpqua Falls.
    Co. 1554 from Yreka to Lava Beds.
    Co. 1555 from Evans Creek to Diamond Lake.
    Co. 1634 from Oregon Caves to Annie Springs.
    Co. 1746 from Kerby to Agness.
    Co. 1747 from Elk Creek to Upper Rogue River.
    Companies which will not be moved include the following:
    Co. 759, Sitkum; Co. 922, Oak Knoll; Co. 964, Wimer; Co. 979, Bradford; Co. 1344, Gasquet; Co. 1622, Coos Head; Co. 1627, China Flats; Co. 1642, South Fork; Co. 1649, McKinley; Co. 1650, Rand; Co. 1910, Indian Creek; and Headquarters detachment.
    The main movement of companies from this district to other districts will take place about May 1, although most of the companies have sent advance detachments of men ahead to prepare the camps for occupancy. Movements within the district will be made as soon as weather conditions permit moving to the higher altitudes where most of the new camps are located.
    Portland, April 25.--(AP)--Oregon will have 26 more CCC camps this year than it had last winter, C. J. Buck, regional forester, announced through his office here today. Buck now is in Washington, D.C. The total number of camps operating in Oregon this summer will be 67, each to house 200 men.
    Enrollment for the new camps will start at once and will continue until October 1.
    There will be 36 camps in national forests, four on Oregon & California land grants, two in state forests, nine on private lands, nine in state parks, one in Crater Lake National Park, four identified with the biological survey, and two in grazing areas.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 25, 1935, page 1


    Three CCC companies will leave the Medford district May 1 and proceed to new summer camps in the Vancouver Barracks and Boise, Idaho districts.
    Co. 1652, which has been at Cape Sebastian, will go to Camp Emigrant Springs near Meacham, Oregon. The company is commanded by First Lieutenant Donald E. Lindsay, with First Lieutenant Grant H. Edwards, Contract Surgeon Ruber G. McCall and Educational Adviser Orlando P. West. The company will go by special train from Marshfield.
    Co. 1626, which has been at Camp Steamboat, will go to Camp Five Mile, near Burns, Oregon. Co. 1629, which has been at Wolf Creek, will go to Camp Gap Ranch, also near Burns. They will go by special train from Roseburg.
    Co. 1626 is commanded by Capt. Luther E. Morgan, with Second Lieut. Kenneth A. L. Johnson, Contract Surgeon E. Noel Smith and Educational Adviser George Meisinger.
    Co. 1629 is commanded by First Lieut. Roy W. Otto, Contract Surgeon Floyd D. Lewis and Educational Adviser Fenton R. Muldowney. 
Medford Mail Tribune, April 25, 1935, page 6


    A special train of new CCC men arrived in Medford at 2 o'clock this afternoon, bearing 335 men, 125 of which are destined for duty at Camp Elk Creek, 125 for duty at Camp Kerby, and 85 will be sent to Camp Gasquet. Most of the men were recruited in and near Los Angeles.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 26, 1935, page 11

    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.


Oregonian, Portland, May 15, 1935, page 14


Oregonian, Portland, May 20, 1935, page 1

    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, Nov. 16.--(AP)--Forest Ranger Maurice Tedder said CCC workers of camp South Fork will complete planting of 60,000 ponderosa pine in the Medford watershed next week.
    He said the planting, largest ever done in the Rogue River National Forest, was a start on the complete reforestation of the Cathill burn.

    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