By:
Sally White
(Click
photos to enlarge)
The Colorado District
By
1936, there were about 40 companies spread out across Colorado. Some were in
high-altitude
tent camps occupied only in the summer months; others were in year-round
installations.
“The
efficiency of the [Colorado] District was built by intelligent, unselfish labor,
and whole hearted cooperation. Those
who gave most, received most. All are happy because of the results obtained. The
Colorado District built men."
From
History of the CCC in
Colorado, Summer 1936
Mt Morrison Camp SP-13-C
Morrison’s
Civilian Conservation Corps camp was one of 162 established in Colorado during
the New Deal. Company 1848 was moved here from Durango to construct the
Amphitheatre at Red Rocks in May 1935.
Before
that project started in June 1936, the CCC enrollees were kept busy in other
mountain parks, building roads, bridges, check dams, and picnic shelters under
the direction of the National Park Service. After amphitheatre construction
started in 1936, work in the other parks was continued by enrollees from other
camps.
In
May 1937, Co. 1860, a veterans’ company, occupied the Morrison camp. The men
of this company thus were responsible for most of the actual construction at Red
Rocks.
Camp
SP-13 is one of the few intact CCC camps in the US today. Between 1935 and 1941,
it housed up to 200 men in five barracks. Ten support buildings also survive at
the camp. This camp was later designated as MA-1-C.
Veterans’ Company 1860
The company was organized in July 1934 in Denver, and
moved to Greeley in August. Much of their early work was in Fort Collins and Larimer County.
In 1937, the men of Company 1860 were relocated to
Morrison. Company 1848 was disbanded, and the veterans took over the
construction work in Red Rocks Park, completing it in 1941.
Chief Hosa Camp F-58-C
In May
1935, Company 829 moved to a brand new camp near “Hosa Lodge.” The official
camp history reports:
"What joy there was when the official order came for Company 829 to
occupy the camp site at Hosea Lodge on Route U.S. 40, at the entrance of the Denver Mountain Parks
system. The men of Company 829 felt it a signal honor to have its company chosen
to occupy this location. Only twenty-four miles from Denver and right in
the midst of things! “The joy of this to look forward to quite overcame the
reception of twelve inches of snow and slush upon arrival at the new location on
May 16. Ten brand new buildings in as pretty a setting as one could conceive
greeted the men of Company 829, Camp P-204-C."
Note: Camp designation was
later changed to F-58-C.
Company 829
Company
829 was established at Camp F-11-C near Idaho Springs on June 3, 1933, and in
September they established side camps at Echo Lake, Squaw Pass, and Evans Ranch.
As with other camps, they relocated as needed, spending the winter of 1933 at
Buffalo Creek. In June 1934, they moved to Peaceful Valley near Lyons, where
they worked on a dam for a reservoir at Brainerd Lake. They returned to Buffalo
Creek again for the winter that year.
After
moving to Camp F-58-C (formerly P-204-C) the men of Company 829 were called to
flood relief work in Kiowa and Elbert, Colorado, on May 31, 1934. Once back on
duty in the Mountain Parks, their work primarily consisted of campground
improvements, construction of rock fill and masonry dams, road and trail
construction, and timber stand improvement.
Company
829 returned to Idaho Springs in 1938, and Camp F-58-C was later demolished.
Genesee Mountain Camp SP-14-C
Camp
SP-14-C operated at Genesee Mountain during the same period (mid-1935 to late 1940)
as Camp SP-13-C at Morrison. This period embraces the peak period of camps
nationwide. Late in its career, this camp was redesignated as Camp MA-2.
Companies
at SP-14-C had different responsibilities. They operated a sawmill as well as a
sign shop, crafting everything from picnic tables to materials for construction
of park shelters.
After 1937, veterans from this camp (Company 1822) joined
in working on Red Rocks Amphitheatre to help finish that large project. Superintendent Edward Teyssier, of the National Park Service, was in charge of
their work as he was of the company at Morrison.
CCC
Hosts Buffalo Barbeque 
The
bison herd was established at Genessee Park in 1914 to help prevent their
extinction. Occasionally a bison found its way onto the CCC
menu.
Barbara
Teyessier Forrest, daughter of Edward Teyssier, National Park Service employee
and Superintendent of construction at Mt. Morrison and later Genesee camps
recalls: "My Brother, Leonard, remembers vividly the day of the
buffalo hunt, he reminded me that I got to ride in the police car on the way to
the hunt (sirens used) and dad followed in his
car with mom and my five younger siblings--he said that the police car exceeded
the mountain speed limit by 10 miles per hour and dad followed immediately
behind."
Veterans’ Company 1822
Company 1822 was organized June 16, 1933, shortly after
President Roosevelt extended the CCC to include Veterans of World War I. Their
first assignment was for the Forest Service at
Grand Mesa. This was followed by work on Loveland Mountain Park, supervised by
the Park Service. More than two years later, the company was moved to Camp
SP-14-C to work on park improvement projects in the Denver Mountain Parks,
especially at Genesee Mountain Park.
In its first three years, 825 men from many states had
served in this company; in June 1936, most of the enrollees were from Colorado.
The original camp paper was called The
Denimed Veteran, but this
was changed to The
Veteran when they moved to
the Golden camp.
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