The work begins

We started to go out to work at last but we never did much work. We used to go swimming instead of work and nobody knew the difference. One day some of the fellows put up a squawk about food and they started a riot. The rangers were called out. About 25 of them came armed and 2 trucks full of fellows from Camp 1259 with clubs in case of more trouble. Ten of the ringleaders who started the trouble we put on trucks under guard and were taken to Livingston. I was on the truck to see the boys got to town all right and we had a motorcycle Police escort and what a trip it was.

I was in town all that afternoon until 11 that night. I seen some of the girls I knew from my first visit to that town and I seen Marie and found out she was going back to her home town but she would write. That night, coming back to the camp I was nearly frozen to death until we got back to camp. We used to go fishing and have fish after supper. Then some of the boys used to play guitar and mandolin and we used to sing for hours. I started to really like this life very much. When we went to bed at night the boys all started to sing and crack jokes and we would never fall asleep.

Sulfur Springs

One Sunday we went on a tour of the Park to see the scenery. We started off by truck. We first visited The Dragon's Mouth Volcano. Then we  stopped off at Sulfur Springs. Then we visited the Grand Canyon from the Upper and Lower Falls.  Then we went to Artist Point and then Inspiration Point. Every place was prettier than ever.

Artist Point

 Then we stopped at a museum and saw many exhibits of stones, birds, and animals. Then we stopped at the Lower Geyser basin which had about 50 small geysers of all sorts and shapes. Then we passed some clear water pools as Morning Glory and Handkerchief Pool. Then we saw the Upper Geyser Basin which was prettier than the lower basin and many more things.
After that we visited a place called the Paint Pot which is a large pool of lava always bubbling up and was all colors.

Finally we were off to "Old Faithful." We arrived. At the place there was a large Hotel and General Store, and a large Gas Station. And I got my first glimpse of Old Faithful. There were benches around the geyser about 100 feet away and there were people waiting for the geyser to go off. During that time we took a ride on some horses that were for hire and then we took some pictures. Then I met some people from California. I talked to them for a while. Then a bus arrived with a party of people from Hawaii. The girls were very pretty. I got to talking to them and they consented to take some pictures with me, and we had some sport. The boys were kidding me plenty. Finally someone said the Geyser was going to go off. Everybody was watching eagerly. It was the prettiest thing I ever seen. It shot away up in the air for over a minute then it ceased.


The people started to go, and we stood for a while and took some more pictures with the Hawaiians and then we left. But we were told they were coming near our camp that evening. On our way back we stopped at some other waterfalls which were very nice. We saw some bears on the road and chased some. We arrived at camp hungry and tired.

That night we went to fishing bridge where they had the campfires and we saw the Hawaiian Girls again. They played for us and sang. Then we took a walk with some of the girls and had a nice time that evening. Got back to camp late. I got a package from Mom and she sent plenty of stuff including spaghetti & macaroni & salami & biscuits.

During the week we did some work chopping trees, pulling out stumps, and making firewood. It kept us busy for 7 hours a day. At night we sat around, sang songs or played ball, went for walks with the boys to the Fishing Bridge or to the General Store.

One Friday night my tent ran a dance. Our tent was called the Savoy Plaza. As the mob of boys came in, the music by Paul Metranga and Orchestra was the payoff. The Captain and Lieutenant were the guests of honor. It was the talk of the camp.

Wednesday June 7, 1933 Yellowstone--Day 1

On our way again after a night of Surprises & wonderful experiences. After riding for a few hours thru plenty of Mts. with 2 engines pulling our train, we finally arrived at Gardner, the North Gate to Yellowstone Park. The town was very small but nice.

There we unloaded the trains, got on trucks and we started for the Camp. We rode up Mts. like I never seen before, valleys, cliffs, canyons, falls, volcanoes, everything was very pretty. Every once in a while we would see a bear or elk and many other animals. Everything was new to us. Then we passed the Grand Canyon. I stood amazed at first. It was so deep and the rock was all colored and there were large water falls twice as high as Niagara Falls. We were on our way again up the mountains. The higher we got, the colder it got. We almost froze before we reached the camp, which was 54 miles away from the North Gate. What a hike. Everything seemed pretty tough the first day. The eats were not ready and everybody was disgusted.

There was plenty of snow all around the place. It was cold at night. The next day we were still disgusted, but after walking around and looking the place over, I changed my mind and made up my mind to like the place and I certainly liked it after that. Most of my friends were always crying. They wanted to go home and they never were satisfied until they got sent home and it was a pleasure to get rid of them.

We used to go walking around and exploring the mountains, the small tourist camps, and camp fire meetings the rangers used to give every night. They used to have entertainment and lectures every night and all the tourists used to come and they were very sociable and we got along very nice with them, especially one girl I met at the lake whose name was Sally. She came from Idaho and I had plenty of fun with her.

Tuesday, June 6, 1933: Into Montana

Woke up still in N. Dakota. Had breakfast, cleaned up myself and sat at the window as we passed the state line into Montana at 10:10 A.M. We then started to see mountains for the first time all day. We rode thru deserts & not many towns. We stopped at some small water tank for half an hour and refueled and were off to some town called Bull Mt. A nice quiet town at 8:45 P.M. that evening. Rolling off again through Osbourne Mont. like a flash.
Our next stop was in a nice big town called Billings. There we saw some real cowboys at the station, some of them were talking to us and trying to discourage us about the woods saying it would kill us to work there, but we kidded them right back. When we got started, some of the cowboys gave us a reception and were riding along with the train on their horses and hollering like Indians while we laughed ourselves sick at them.

We were going along pretty fast for a few hours till we came to a Wonderful town  called Livingston which I'll never forget as long as I live. The train stopped for the night. Some of us were given leave until 5 A.M. and then the fun began. We first visited a saloon just like in the movies, bar, gambling tables, the first time I started to realize I was really in the West. I gave the man behind the bar a $5 bill and he gave me change in Silver Dollars.

Then we went to a section of town called B Street and there I saw things I never saw before, which I can't explain in this book.Then we went to the Cafeteria for a bite to eat and I met the sweetest girl in the West. Her name was Marie Grasse. She was very nice and pleasant to talk to. She got stuck on my style, so I walked out with her and learned she was stopping at the Northern Hotel in Livingston. I went up to her suite (2 rooms) and had a very nice time, almost missed my train which left at 5:15.