Jerry Apps - The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin: Natures Army at Work

The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin

THE CIVILIAN
CONSERVATION CORPS IN WISCONSIN

Natures Army at Work

JERRY APPS

WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS

Published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press

Publishers since 1855

The Wisconsin Historical Society helps people connect to the past by collecting, preserving, and sharing stories. Founded in 1846, the Society is one of the nations finest historical institutions.

Join the Wisconsin Historical Society: wisconsinhistory.org/membership

2019 by Jerold W. Apps

E-book edition 2019

Publication of this book was made possible in part by a grant from the Alice E. Smith fellowship fund.

For permission to reuse material from The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin (ISBN 978-0-87020-904-8; e-book ISBN 978-0-87020-905-5), please access www.copyright.com or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users.

Photographs identified with WHI or WHS are from the Societys collections; address requests to reproduce these photos to the Visual Materials Archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706.

Cover design by Andrew J. Brozyna, AJB Design

Typesetting by S4Carlisle Publishing Services

23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Apps, Jerold W., 1934 author.

Title: The Civilian Conservation Corps in Wisconsin : natures army at work/Jerry Apps.

Description: [Madison, Wis.] : Wisconsin Historical Society Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018034905 (print) | LCCN 2018041065 (e-book) | ISBN 9780870209055 (e-book) | ISBN 9780870209048 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.)History. | Conservation projects (Natural resources)WisconsinHistory.

Classification: LCC S932.W6 (e-book) | LCC S932.W6 A67 2019 (print) | DDC 333.709775dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018034905

To the CCC boys who saved themselves as they saved the nations natural resources.

CONTENTS

MAPPING SPECIALISTS, LTD., FITCHBURG, WI

1. Camp Alvin, Alvin, WI

2. Camp Argyle, Argyle, WI

3. Camp Bear Paw, Mountain, WI

4. Camp Beaver, Clam Lake, WI

5. Camp Blackwell, Laona, WI

6. Camp Bloomington, Bloomington, WI

7. Camp Blue Lake, Minocqua, WI

8. Camp Boot Lake, Townsend, WI

9. Camp Brinks, Washburn, WI

10. Camp Cable, Cable, WI

11. Camp Cavour, Laona, WI

12. Camp Chippewa River, Loretta, WI

13. Camp City Point, Wood County, WI

14. Camp Cochrane, Cochrane, WI

15. Camp Connors Lake, Phillips, WI

16. Camp Coon Valley, Coon Valley, WI

17. Camp Darlington, Darlington, WI

18. Camp Delta, Delta, WI

19. Camp Devils Lake, Baraboo, WI

20. Camp Dodge, Dodge, WI

21. Camp Double Bend, Newald, WI

22. Camp Dream, Florence, WI

23. Camp Drummond, Drummond, WI

24. Camp Dunbar, Dunbar, WI

25. Camp Durand, Durand, WI

26. Camp Ellsworth, Ellsworth, WI

27. Camp Ettrick, Ettrick, WI

28. Camp Evansville, Evansville, WI

29. Camp Gays Mills, Gays Mills, WI

30. Camp Ghost Creek, Hayward, WI

31. Camp Highland, Highland, WI

32. Camp Himley Lake, Wabeno, WI

33. Camp Hixton, Hixton, WI

34. Camp Horseshoe, Moquah, WI

35. Camp Independence, Independence, WI

36. Camp Irving, Black River Falls, WI

37. Camp Jump River, Jump River, WI

38. Camp Lakewood, Lakewood, WI

39. Camp LaValle, LaValle, WI

40. Camp Lily Pad, Phelps, WI

41. Camp Long Lake, Long Lake, WI

42. Camp Loretta, Loretta, WI

43. Camp Madison, Madison, WI

44. Camp McCoy, between Sparta and Tomah, WI

45. Camp Menomonie, Menomonie, WI

46. Camp Mineral Lake, Marengo, WI

47. Camp Mondeaux River, Westboro, WI

48. Camp Moose River, Glidden, WI

49. Camp Morse, Morse, WI

50. Camp Mountain, Mountain, WI

51. Camp Mount Horeb, Mount Horeb, WI

52. Camp Nelson, Nelson, WI

53. Camp Nelson Dewey, Cassville, WI

54. Camp Newald, Newald, WI

55. Camp New Wood, Merrill, WI

56. Camp Nine Mile, Eagle River, WI

57. Camp Ontario, Ontario, WI

58. Camp Pattison, Superior, WI

59. Camp Peninsular, Fish Creek, WI

60. Camp Perkinstown, Perkinstown, WI

61. Camp Perrot, Trempealeau, WI

62. Camp Petenwell, Necedah, WI

63. Camp Phelps, Phelps, WI

64. Camp Pigeon Lake, Drummond, WI

65. Camp Pine River, Three Lakes, WI

66. Camp Platteville, Platteville, WI

67. Camp Rainbow, Florence, WI

68. Camp Rib Mountain, Wausau, WI

69. Camp Richland Center, Richland Center, WI

70. Camp Riley Creek, Fifield, WI

71. Camp Rusk, Glen Flora, WI

72. Camp Sailor Lake, Fifield, WI

73. Camp Sawyer, Winter, WI

74. Camp Scott Lake, Three Lakes, WI

75. Camp Section Eleven, Townsend, WI

76. Camp Sheep Ranch, Phillips, WI

77. Camp Smith Lake, Seeley, WI

78. Camp Taylor Lake, Grandview, WI

79. Camp Thunder River, Lakewood, WI

80. Camp Tomahawk, Tomahawk, WI

81. Camp Trump Lake, Wabeno, WI

82. Camp Virgin Lake, Three Lakes, WI

83. Camp Viroqua, Viroqua, WI

84. Camp West Salem, La Crosse, WI

85. Camp Whitnall, Milwaukee, WI

86. Camp Wolf River, Lakewood, WI

I m regularly asked, Where do you get the ideas for your books? The answer is both simple and complicated. Often times, when I am chopping wood, or working in to my garden, or merely hiking in my woodlot, an idea for a book will pop into my head, coming from I know not where. When I am on the road, speaking at local historical societies, libraries, bookstores, and farmers groups, someone will take me aside and say, Have you thought about doing a book on ? The topics range all the way from outhouses (no book coming on these less-than-fondly remembered structures) to my memories of water and its importance in society.

Topping the list of ideas for new books are those that come from booksellers. Booksellers know what their customers want, and I listen to them when they make suggestions. That is exactly what happened with the idea for this book. I was attending the Heartland Fall Foruma gathering of booksellers, publishers, and authors alternatively held in Minneapolis and Chicagoin 2014 in Minneapolis. There I chatted a bit with Jane Janke, from Janke Book Store in Wausau, Wisconsin. Ive known Jane for many years, have signed books at her bookstore, and value her judgment about what customers are interested in these days.

Have you thought about doing a book on the CCC in Wisconsin? Jane asked.

Well, no, I honestly replied.

Well, you should think about it, Jane said. Jane knew I had written essentially nothing about the logging industry and related topics. I knew that the CCC, or the Civilian Conservation Corps, was heavily involved in helping reforest the great cutover region of northern Wisconsin and was active in the development of both state and national parks. But somehow I had overlooked writing anything specific about the CCC.