extractions from
A Guide to CCC Camps in Wisconsin,
1937
Sparta District Annual 1937, Civilian Conservation Corps, Sixth Corps Area.
640th Company
Drummond, Wisconsin
F-42
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MEMBERS Reading from left to right --
OFFICERS Capt. H. H. LONG, Inf-Res. - Commanding Officer TECHNICAL PERSONNEL Joseph W. LANDING - Project Superintendent |
|
MEMBERS Reading from left to right --
MEMBERS NOT IN PICTURE Lawrence J. GAGNER, Donald JOHNSON, Claude WEAVER, John A. GRAF, Carl P. JOHNSON, Leonard S. WANGEN, Vernon WHITE, Andrew L. BRANDWICK, Arnold L. CARLSON, Charles R. ADAMS, Willis F. ANDERSON, Woodrow W. BELLILE, Rex S. CARTER, Orrin HEINRICH, Alfred B. HILDENBRANDT, Ernest A. WESTLUND, Michael E. WINCEK, John P. GRANDIS, Melvin W. JONES, Ivan LEPASTI, Harry L. NILSEN, Lloyd E. NYBERG, Floyd C. JACKSON. |
One of the first companies formed at Fort Sheridan,
Illinois, to be sent north into Wisconsin, the 640th Company of the Civilian Conservation
Corps may justly lay claim to being one of the oldest units in the state of Wisconsin.
The original company, comprised mainly of Milwaukee men, originated at Fort Sheridan
April 15, 1933, under the command of Capt. Norman N. Rogers, who moved with the company
to its first station at Camp Brinks, F-5, Washburn, Wis., on April 26.
With an average company strength of 190 at Brinks, certain pioneering hardships were
encountered in the early months. The enrollees were housed in six of the long forty-man
tents and ate regularly from their mess kits. Work at Camp Brinks in those early
days was varied, but road construction and tree planting were the major projects
the summer and fall of 1933.
On November 15, 1933, the 640th Company moved into winter barracks at Camp Morse,
Morse, Wisconsin. During this winter stay at Camp Morse, Lieut. Frank Renskers, Inf.-Res.,
took over the company. Timber stand improvement was the main work on the project
through the cold months.
The company moved back to Camp Brinks on May 4, 1934, and this time to much improved
conditions, with squad tents and floors and other homely comforts. In June, 1934,
Lieutenant Renskers relinquished command of the company to Lieut. W. B. Gruselle,
FA-Res.
There was one day of great excitement in the woods that summer where the men of the
640th Company were working. Forest Service Mechanic Peterson was plowing furrows
when a giant black bear, easily six feet tall, and weighing 500 pounds, charged from
his cave where he had been disturbed. As the big bear charged, Peterson instinctively
swung his tractor around and met the animal head-on. The next moment the wheels of
the traxctor had pinned the bear underneath and Peterson killed him with head blows
with his monkey-wrench.
During the total period of eighteen months spent by 640th Company at Camp Brinks,
an enviable record of work accomplished was established. Some 4,703 acres of land
was planted, twenty miles of telephone lines were constructed, 512 acres of timber
stand improvment were completed, forty-four miles of forest service truck trails
were made, and 144,500 fish were planted in lakes of the area.
When the company moved to Camp Drummond on Pigeon Lake, October 26, 1934, the men
sat down to meals in a comfortable mess hall and ate out of dishes for the first
time. During the ensuing winter of 1934-35 much attention in the company was centered
on a basketball team, which won second place in the Wisconsin CCC Tournament.
In February, 1936, Lieutenant Gruselle gained his Captain's commission and was transferred,
and Lieut. Peter P. Meshkoff, Inf.-Res., took command. In April, 1936, he was followed
by Capt. Albert C. Wolfe, Inf.-Res., who was transferred on July 22nd, and the present
Company commander, Capt. H. H. Long, Inf.-Res., assumed command.
On March 31, 1937, Project Superintendent Ferris K. Green, who had been with the
company since its arrival at Camp Brink, was replaced by Mr. Joseph W. Landino.
The past thirty-one months at Camp Pigeon has resulted in more than sixty miles of
trails, one ranger station built, 1,568 acres planted with trees, 1,944 acres of
timber stand improvement completed, two fire towers constructed, 249 miles of lineal
survey run, twelve miles of telephone lines constructed, and ribies eradicated to
the extent of 2,430 acres, besides considerable work in lake surveying and planting
fish.
The men of the 640th Company played a major role in the serious fire season of 1936.
Pigeon men were the first to report at the big Brule fire which started July 31.
In the Barnes fire they again fought effectively on August 7th and 8th and were largely
instrumental in checking the rapid advance of flames until reserves came to their
aid.
The company played an active part in flood relief in the spring of 1937. A total
of eight trucks and twenty-two men, including eighteen drivers and three cooks, joined
the flood relief work on January 28th and returned February 10th. Drivers Ellsworth
Hinz and George Gagner receied "Superior" ratings for their work on flood
duty.
The present staff of Company 640 follows: Captain Long, Commanding; Lieutenant DeVote,
Junior Officer; Hugh Enochs, Educational Adviser; J. W. Landino, Project Suiperintendent;
and Merrill Thornber, Everett Stitz, Leonard Larson, Val Hanson, Peter Mogenson,
Chris Melland and Harold Mallmberg, Technicians.
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