I’d like to talk about a dear friend of mine, and that’s David Canfield. When I first met David in ’32 he was the Chief Ranger of Crater Lake. Dave was a friendly and helpful man. He was tall, neat and he always presented himself in a good manner to people. Dave later on became Superintendent of Crater Lake in 1933. I remember that summer of ’33 when Secretary Ickes came through the park and the Crater Lake ranger staff, with Dave in charge, drove the Secretary of the Interior Ickes through the park and later on drove him down to Redding to some dedication of the forthcoming Shasta Dam. Also Dave, I’d like to comment, he was dearly loved by all the people. All the rangers were very dedicated to Dave. Dave was very friendly to everyone.
I never remember Dave saying an angry work against anyone as long as I worked with him; I worked with Dave for several years before he was transferred to Rocky Mountains. Dave was at the park in ’33 during the heyday of the activity. There was much construction: there was much major road building, there were many CCC problems, public works programs, and he had quite a fiscal responsibility as a head of the Park Service to administer and bring about a good coordination of the all the work forces. Everyone respected Dave and Dave respected each man for his opinion and judgment. He was never critical of anyone and he always spoke well of one. I always remember Dave, there would be three or four of us, we played horseshoes in back of the administration building. We had a pole light that Dave had put up and we had four of us that played horseshoes. Dave, Ernie Rostel, John Doerr, and myself. I want to speak about Ernie Rostel. Ernie Rostel was a publicity man for Crater Lake. Dave thought very much of Ernie. Ernie was an easy-going, kind and unhurried person. He wrote most of the editorials of the work going on about Crater Lake which he distributed to the various newspapers in Medford and throughout the state. He was an excellent writer, but I’ll always remember him for his easy going mannerism. I’ll always remember John Doerr for his excellent personality, his friendly manner and his love and respect for the many people that worked for him. John never said one angry work of anyone at work. He was always friendly, he gave an excellent lecture. He got many compliments from the audience and he later on did very well at brushing up for stature. Well, I would like to speak a few thoughtful words for Dave Canfield. I think at the time when Dave Canfield was Superintendent in ’33 to approximately 1937 there was an excellent spirit of comradeship between Dave and those people that worked for him.
