We’ll begin with some question I’ve sent Mr. Nelson several months ago about his time at Crater Lake and what led up to it.
My connection with Crater Lake started a long time ago and involved quite a large number of people that helped me along the way. In fact it started back in 1934. After school I had a number of part time jobs, working for a dollar a day. We weren’t on relief, but my father was acquainted with a lady who was recruiting for the CCCs. He talked with her and she sent me along with another group as an alternate to Gillette, Wyoming.
When I arrived there, I was lucky enough to get into the CCC because one of the others didn’t pass the physical. To start with, they gave us a wheelbarrow and a pick and shovel. We went on the coal fires there. You dug out the fire, mixed it with dirt, and dumped it over the bank. That winter they transferred our company to Grand Canyon, Arizona, where they had three camps. The Park Service found out that I knew some accounting, shorthand and typing, so they pulled me into the office there as a clerk to handle the paperwork for the three CCC camps there.
While I was there they had an opening at the Grand Canyon Post Office. I took the Civil Service exam and had the best score. The person that took third was working there temporarily, so they gave him the full time job. They offered me weekends and holiday work if I could clear with the Army and the Park Service which was easy enough. It got me out of KP at camp and let me go to the cold room when I couldn’t make it for the regular meals. A little later my supervisor there, who really supported me, got me in line for any political appointments or clearance that was need for emergency jobs. When one of the enrollees fell over the rim and was killed, the Army had me take the notes for the hearing on that incident. This supervisor told me that I should be getting paid for my effort on that hearing. He went to the officials and got me cleared for payment for my work even though the Army didn’t like it much.
