There are few signs that the Civilian
Conservation
Corps camp somewhat misnamed "Camp Sisters" once occupied the area
where
the Riverside Campground is located today. This picturesque, almost
park-like
spot near the headwaters of the Metolius is one where mature ponderosa
pines tower over tiny meadows. In 1933, under President Franklin D.
Roosevelt,
Congress approved a program to provide training and employment and
further
an interest in conservation among young men between the ages of 17 and
23. The men, who were paid between $30 and $45 a month, were educated,
housed and fed by the Army.
In early May 1933 the site for the forest
camp
on the Metolius River was chosen. The Bend Bulletin, May 4, 1933,
reported
that at first the camp was to be located at or very near Sisters (hence
the name Camp Sisters), but the Metolius site was closer to areas in
which
various projects, including trail and road construction, would be
undertaken.
The site was that of the old race track where the Glaze outfit used to
train horses. In her recollections of Camp Sherman, Jean Powell
Reckman,
teacher at Black Butte School 1936- 37, wrote, "We were told it [the
site]
was an old Indian race track. "
Over the years Camp Sisters was in
operation, the
CCC men accomplished many improvements in and near the Metolius Valley.
In addition to the projects mentioned above, the CCC crews constructed
many of the facilities - tables, benches hewn from ponderosa pine,
shelters
equipped with stoves and fireplaces - that are still in use at
campgrounds
along the upper Metolius. Trails were built along both sides of the
river.
The recruits also built or carved rustic boundary and historical
markers.
At Suttle Lake, the recruits constructed
campgrounds,
trails, picnic spots, playgrounds, a new swimming dock, and outdoor
fireplaces.
A shelter at the Skyliners winter playground on the McKenzie Highway
was
constructed in the fall of 1936. The CCC men removed beetle killed
trees
on Green Ridge (early 1935), built a road from the Santiam Highway to
Scout
Lake and constructed the Suttle Lake-Camp Sherman road (1936). In 1937,
the crews completed a counting and separating corral for sheep near the
Santiam Pass, more trails at Suttle Lake, and fought forest fires.
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