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.