North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) - Works Progress Administration (WPA)

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was another government entity which made a noticeable impact in the North Cascades. Born from the despair of a debilitating nationwide depression, the CCC was one of many programs established following the passage of the Emergency Conservation Work Act of 1933. President Roosevelt envisioned a peacetime army of unemployed young men working in forests and parks throughout the United States, learning new skills and completing much-needed conservation work -- a "man building as well as forest building" opportunity. [92] Within a few months of the bill's passage, 1300 CCC camps were in place across the country. [93]

CCC camp at Bacon Creek.
(Thompson Collection, Washtucna, Washington: photo by Lloyd Seabury, 28 January 1933)

Between the years 1933 and 1942 thousands of young men were recruited, tested, and assigned to CCC camps prepared for work. Transportation to the camp site, camp construction, and management were undertaken by the United States Army, while the Departments of Agriculture and Interior selected the camp sites and planned, designed, and supervised all work done by the CCC. The cooperation between these various agencies was a remarkable success, and so was the CCC itself. Not only were men relieved of unemployment, but they were offered new challenges. They enjoyed new experiences such as being away from home, learning to live cooperatively with others, and working in a healthy environment -- and they also learned skills. The enrollees were supplied with housing, food, clothing, and a stipend. They were expected to send $25 of their $30 a month salary home to their needy families. The states benefited as did the young men. In Washington State alone, a total of 50 camps employed 73,339 individuals whose work accomplishments included the construction of lookout structures, telephone lines, truck trails and minor roads, tree planting, fighting forest fires, and reducing fire hazards. [94]

In the environs of the North Cascades, CCC camps were established at Glacier, Bacon Creek, Darrington, Chelan, and 25-Mile Creek on the west shore of Lake Chelan. In the area of today's park, the Skagit camp (#F-13) at Bacon Creek worked on projects in the Skagit Ranger District of the Mount Baker National Forest. Several years later in Stehekin a CCC side camp was established from the main camp at 25-Mile Creek (#F-77). These side or "spike" camps were approved only when travel time to and from the main camp and the work site was excessive. [95] Though short-lived, the Stehekin side camp was a great benefit to the Chelan National Forest.

At the main Skagit camp (established in 1933 with a crew from Illinois), the CCC enlarged the small Backus Ranger Station by constructing a warehouse, a blacksmith shop, garage, oil station, and residences. [96] They cleared land, landscaped the grounds, and painted the structures, all under the supervision of the USFS. Other work in the district included the clearing and grading of the existing Skagit road and Bacon Creek road. A bridge spanning Bacon Creek was built by a 35-man CCC crew in 1933. [97] The CCC built a lookout on Bacon Peak in 1935 and also improved the old puncheon road along the Skagit River, originally built by settlers in the early twentieth century. [98] Unofficial side camps with a total of 18 men were established in 1933 at Reflector Bar, on the Cascade River, and at Crater Mountain, primarily for trail and building maintenance, fence and telephone line construction, and campground development. [99] The main camp was vacated by the winter of 1937, but re-established and active through the summer of that year. In the spring of 1940 the bunkhouses were removed, although a CCC crew did return the following year to complete additional work. [100]

Construction at Backus Ranger Station in Marblemount by CCC crews, 1933.
(USFS-Mt. Baker-Sedro Woolley, Washington photo file)

Operating somewhat later than its counterpart in the Skagit district, the CCC side camp in Stehekin was activated in the late 1930s, drawing 16-20 men from the 25-Mile Creek camp situated downlake. A 1939 inspection report of the camp noted: "This camp is considerably below the minimum standard for side camps and cannot be brought up to standard in its present location by reason of the topography and limited space." Living quarters were indeed spare: four 16' x 16' pyramid tents, "all in poor condition," and two 12' x 18' "out-dated portable bunk houses." [101] Despite the uncomfortable living conditions, the Stehekin CCC crew accomplished a great deal. Three sturdy log shelters standing today were constructed for recreational purposes at Bridge Creek, High Bridge, and Flick Creek. [102] In 1937, a CCC crew built a new hay barn and horse corral at the USFS Purple Point Ranger Station. [103] The following year, a two-man CCC crew constructed a lookout on Goode Ridge. [104] Trails, telephone lines, and bridges in the backcountry were also improved, upgraded, and rebuilt by these hard working young men. [105]

Left: CCC crew building bridge over Bacon Creek, 1933.
(USFS-Mt. Baker-Sedro Woolley, Washington photo file)
Right: View of recently completed Skagit Truck Trail above Bacon Creek, 1937.
(USFS-Mt. Baker-Sedro Woolley, Washington photo file)

To supplement the CCC, the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act established the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. This program continued to provide relief to the distressed nation by employing workers on public projects between 1935 and 1943. In the North Cascades, Whatcom County established a WPA construction camp on Ruby Creek for the purpose of building a road. The Ruby Creek road was to be a mine-to-market road connecting Hart's Pass road with Slate Creek road. Portable buildings including a barn, cookhouse, and a bunkhouse, were brought from the abandoned Bacon Creek CCC camp. That summer four miles of road were completed and then, possibly because of a lack of government funds, all work ceased on the project. The buildings passed to USFS ownership, eventually fell into disrepair, and were removed. The rising waters of Ross Lake flooded a section of the four-mile road but more than two miles remain intact along the north side of Ruby Creek. Of the former camp itself, only the Ruby barn remains to mark the site. [106]