The Corps at the Canyon

The Civilian Conservation Corps’ Legacy at Grand Canyon National Park

Peter B. Hernandez graduated college in June of 1929 and stepped into the world filled with hope and the youthful exuberance that accompanies most college graduates. He was confident that industry would provide for him as it had for those that had come before and that despite the economy’s failings he would find a job. However, he and his fellow graduates faced increasing challenges as the economy shrank further and further into disrepair and jobs became scarce. Hernandez secured employment as a butcher, which he described as torturous, and he gradually sank into a state of hopelessness and insecurity as he struggled through the first years of the 1930s. His confidence in the future disappeared and he felt that he was wasting his youth on a “procession of failures [and] disappointments” in the face of ever growing economic misery. This all changed when Hernandez heard that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt planned to put young men to work for a new relief agency and he jumped at the opportunity. Hernandez left for the Grand Canyon to join Company 819 of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the spring of 1933; filled with hope, head held high, and ready to make his mark¹.

Peter Hernandez and his fellow CCC enrollees embarked on a journey that altered the landscape of Grand Canyon National Park and left a legacy that stands to this day. As the country sank deeper into economic depression, Roosevelt realized his goal of using unemployed young men to further conservation efforts for the country. This served a dual purpose of combating the country’s growing unemployment problems and bringing conservation to the public arena. The CCC succeeded in improving the quality of the land and the lives of men alike. Roosevelt used the CCC to improve National Parks and promote the conservation of public lands such as those completed at the Grand Canyon. Young men such as Hernandez, who enrolled in the CCC, engaged in diverse projects that achieved Roosevelt’s goals of bringing conservation to the public consciousness and reshaped the country and the Grand Canyon’s landscape.

 

 

Roosevelt took office in 1933 faced with the daunting task of righting the American economy and ending the Depression as quickly as possible. He met these challenges head on in the first part of his administration with sweeping legislation to combat the problems facing the country. Roosevelt’s New Deal was designed to provide work for the unemployed and relief for those in need through a variety of agencies. It was with these goals in mind that Roosevelt called for the creation of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) which was duly formed through the Emergency Conservation Work Act of 1933⁴. The goal of the CCC was twofold. It removed unemployed young men from the streets by putting them to work which allowed them to provide for their dependants, while also promoting the conservation of American lands. The CCC would achieve these aims through a variety of projects. They built roads, fought forest fires, built dams, completed extensive reforestation projects, and completed any additional jobs that they were assigned⁵. These projects stemmed from Roosevelt’s experience and dedication to the conservation movement.

Roosevelt was an ardent conservationist who fought for the conservation movement his entire political life and the CCC was driven by his determination⁶. While governor of New York, Roosevelt backed the conservation of state lands and even undertook extensive reforestation projects on his own estate. His previous experience in these areas and his belief in conservation were a prime factor in his desire to create the CCC. Deforestation and soil erosion took a terrible toll on the United States by the time Roosevelt came to office. At one point in time, 800 million acres of forests covered the country but by 1933 only 100 million acres of forests remained while three billion tons of the best soil had washed or blown away turning once fertile lands into dust bowls. Roosevelt knew that something had to be done to combat the destruction of the country’s resources and he saw a golden opportunity to use unemployed workers in this capacity as he combined hopeless young men with the land in order to save both⁷.

Roosevelt wanted to use the CCC for two goals relating to conservation; reforestation and soil conservation and state and national park improvements. These two areas combined Roosevelt’s Progressive Era beliefs in the efficient use of resources and broadened the goal of conservation to also include a concern for public health⁸. Roosevelt took these themes and expounded upon them on the campaign trail of 1932 arguing that conservation and relief work were the perfect companions to fight the Depression, going as far as outlining the basics of the CCC in his Democratic Party nomination speech⁹. Roosevelt realized that the American landscape had changed drastically since the country’s inception and that steps needed to be taken to combat this destruction of natural resources.

 

 

In May of 1933 the first CCC Company arrived at the Grand Canyon to complete improvements and promote the conservation of the area and when the program was terminated in 1942, they left behind a remarkable legacy. They constructed buildings, improved roads, created trails, worked on fire prevention, engaged in pest control, and even worked on archaeology projects¹¹. These jobs followed Roosevelt’s plan for the CCC by promoting the conservation of the land as well as making much needed improvements to Grand Canyon National Park. During the life of the CCC, these young men played an integral part in reshaping the landscape of the Grand Canyon to realize the goals set for the CCC.

The first CCC enrollees to reach the Grand Canyon were comprised of men who assembled and went through training at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. After a brief two week introduction into the expectation of what life was like in the CCC, the commanding officer assigned the men their company number and they departed by train for their camps at the Grand Canyon¹². Peter Hernandez was filled with excitement as he began his journey, proclaiming “ever onward, ever upward, unto the infinite, so says the abounding irresistable [sic] spirit of youth.” For the first time since graduation he found hope through the CCC¹³. One of the first CCC camps built and occupied was a tent camp constructed at Neil Springs on the North Rim of the Canyon in the Kaibab Forest for Company 818. This camp was used during the summer months while the company spent their winters at the bottom of the Canyon near the mouth of Bright Angel Creek¹⁴. Having a camp at both sites allowed the company to work on projects throughout the year as their winter quarters were perfectly suited for inner canyon work and their summer quarters allowed them the opportunity to work on the rim. While Company 818 had the North Rim covered, Company 819 was created and a camp was built on the South Rim to handle the projects designated for completion near Grand Canyon Village. With the creation of these two companies, the CCC had both rims of the canyon covered and the enrollees began working on their conservation projects.

 

On the opposite rim, as well as within the canyon itself, Company 818 labored extensively to bring about incredible improvements to the Grand Canyon. Working from their camp at the mouth of Bright Angel Creek, Company 818 built the Colorado River Trail from the end of Bright Angel Trail to a location on the Kaibab Trail roughly two miles away¹⁷. While the distance was not great, the trail turned out to be one of the most dangerous trails in the Grand Canyon to build as it was carved out of a cliff side for its entire length. Enrollees faced cliffs between 40 and 500 feet above the river and few warning signs before the cliff would crumble beneath the men’s feet. They used jackhammers and explosive powder on the sides of the cliffs to construct the trail¹⁸. The mend tied themselves to ropes thrown over the edge and did a large amount of work hung precariously over the side¹⁹. The men building this trail faced extreme hardships and a number of them were injured on the job but there were no fatalities during the entire construction. The trail took two winters to complete but when it was finished, tourists were given another option for cross canyon trips. While work was being completed on the Colorado River Trail, Company 818 and 819 also did extensive work on improving the Kaibab Trail.

The maintenance of the Kaibab Trail was another one of the most important projects that the CCC completed. The trail was the only cross canyon trail that had been maintained to any degree prior to the CCC’s arrival and the supply line that it created was vital for Company 818. The trail was sectioned off into a north and south trail with 819 being in charge of the south and 818 completing work on the north. The team from 818 was comprised of 18 men who walked almost 12 miles a day to their work site on the trail²⁰. Both companies worked diligently to complete this process by clearing the trail of debris, fixing rock walls, and providing any further improvements that were necessary²². Their work paid off as the trail was eventually maintained over its entire distance and continues to serve cross canyon traffic²¹.

 

One of the greatest achievements completed by the CCC was the creation of the trans-Canyon telephone line. This project harnessed the power of the CCC to create a communication network between the two canyon rims that exists to this day. The first telephone line connecting the two rims of the canyon was built in 1922 and was inadequate as a communication tool. The line only allowed one conversation at a time and in an area where communication was already difficult, the need to improve the situation was great. The CCC planned the new telephone line to connect the Bright Angel Lodge on the south rim with a ranger building located on the north to allow communication between the rims in case of an emergency. Company 847 completed construction on the south rim, building the line from Bright Angel Lodge to the foot of Bright Angel trail while Company 818 built the line from Pipe Creek to a point above Phantom Ranch, and then along the Kaibab Trail²³.

Construction of the telephone line was far from easy for the CCC. The terrain was difficult to navigate and in some instances, poles were driven into steep cliff sides to run the line²⁴. Construction began in the inner gorge and the high cliffs made it difficult to find appropriate lines for construction. When work began in the Bright Angel Canyon and up the Redwall Limestone cliff the work became more treacherous. Still, the 16 man crew labored without incident²⁵. The men worked predominately in pairs to put in posts and string the lines as they maneuvered the rough environments to find the optimal points for the line²⁶. Through the CCC’s hard work and determination, the trans-canyon telephone line was completed in a little over a year and it was one of the most beneficial contributions that the CCC made to the Grand Canyon National Park as it made easy communication a reality²⁷.

 

 

In the end, the CCC was one of the most popular New Deal agencies. Not only did it give unemployed men the ability to provide for their families, it also shaped the American landscape through the conservation and improvements of its lands. The creation of the CCC brought conservation experience into the lives of millions and expanded its popularity. The New Deal came between the earlier Progressive Era conservation movement and the later environmental movement that began in the 1960s. As historian Neil Maher has persuasively argued, the CCC linked these movements in powerful ways. The landscapes that the CCC created and altered transformed the idea of conservation into something more. For the first time, issues of conservation seeped into the national conscience and were debated by all levels of society³⁰.

Roosevelt was successful with his goals for the CCC. Not only was he able to promote conservation but he was also able to impact the lives of those who enrolled in the CCC. Enrollees of the CCC were not just put to work; they were given the opportunity to better themselves through a wide range of activities. Camp life offered recreation, education, and the chance to learn new skills³¹. Troy Crosier, a CCC enrollee from Illinois, used the soil conservation skills that he learned to farm his own land after his stint in the CCC. John Meszaros on the other hand recognized that the CCC played an important part in keeping him out of jail as well as instilling in him the desire to take pride in the things that he accomplished. Sentiments such as these can be found throughout the stories of CCC alumni who found the experience to be life altering³². For Peter Hernandez, he felt that he became “a better man . . . because of the months in the service of the Civilian Conservation Corps . . . more self confident, more cooperative . . . [my] duty to society more clearly defined.”³³ All of these played into Roosevelt’s belief in saving the man through saving nature³⁴.

Peter Hernandez entered the CCC struggling to find his place in the world. The first few years of the 1930s left him disenchanted and ready for a change, which he was found through the CCC. He recognized that life in the CCC made him a better man. He learned discipline and initiative and became what he considered a “better citizen.” The CCC gave him the opportunity to work in a time when jobs were lacking and more importantly it provided an experience that shaped who he became. The CCC allowed Hernandez to find self-respect and leave the Grand Canyon and himself better than when he arrived³⁵.