My early work with the Oregon state parks was not as successful as it might have been because I got crosswise of the boss over protection of some of the parks. You can’t have a differing view with the people you are working for and at the same time be in charge of their planning. That was one of the things that I stressed in my subsequent academic work which I guess leads into the next questions about getting a job with the parks.
I worked here in Oregon as a salesman, then as a mill worker, over at Sweet Home for what is now know as Willamette Industries. In 1950, I was in Salem and talked with Sam Boardman, then head of the state parks, about the possibility of a job with them. He was just retiring at the time, but suggested me to his successor, Chet Armstrong. I landed a job with them as their information writer which ties into this business about Bill Langille, in that I took over the job that Langille had previously (1). Langille was quite an old man then and I talked with him a little bit about writing histories on the state parks. We had some differences about how to do it, I guess, so I didn’t see as much of him as I might have. I worked with the state parks, going from being information writer to being their park planner. We were just then developing overnight camping at the time and really expanding the state park system when I started in 1951. Sam Boardman, who had been the previous state parks superintendent until 1950, opposed camping. Governor McKay, however, said that the parks would have overnight camping. My job involved figuring out which parks needed to have a camp in them.
