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Show Escalante SUP Will Mark Civilian Conservation Corps Camps Saturday By Jerry Roundy ESCALANTE At 2:00 p.m., Saturday, Sept., 16, at the Escalante Esca-lante LDS Stake Center, the Escalante Hole-in-the-Rock Chapter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers will hold dedication ceremonies for three historic markers to be placed at former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sites in the Escalante area. Officials from the state office of the SUP, the Dixie National Forest, the Garfield County Commission, and Escalante City will attend the dedicatory services. The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the Great Depression Depres-sion recovery programs initiated by t President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. The Corps operated between 1933 and 1942, during which time four camps were established estab-lished in the Escalante area. In 1933 two camps were established, estab-lished, one on Blue Spring Ridge (See SUP on page 5-A) SUP From Front Page on the Escalante Mountain, 16 miles north of Escalante (Forest Service Camp 18), and one in Water Canyon in Main Canyon, 12 miles west of Escalante (Soil Conservation Con-servation Camp 211). The camp on Blue Spring Ridge was responsible for building the Hells Backbone Bridge and the road on through Salt Gulch into Boulder. The camp in Water Canyon worked on flood control con-trol and soil conservation projects. Both camps were gone from Escalante after the summer of 1934. In 1935 two more camps were established in the Escalante area, one east of town on a tract of land known by townspeople as "The Spring." This was Forest Service Camp 42. Another camp was built about a mile south of Posey Lake on the Escalante Mountain and was known as Forest Service Camp 44. (See SUP on page 6-A) SUP From Page 5-A The major project for FS-42 was building the road between Escalante and Boulder via Calf Creek. Road work began in 1935 and continued until 1940. The road was cut through sandstone ledges which were sometimes 40 feet deep and 80 feet long. This soon became known as the "million-dollar highway" high-way" or the "million-dollar road to Boulder." Dedication of the road took place on June 21, 1940, making motorized travel between Escalante and Boulder possible for the first time on an all-weather, year-round road. Using pack mule to carry mail between the two communities was no longer needed. The camp south of Posey Lake operated from 1935 to 1941 and was responsible for building the road over the Escalante Mountain between Escalante and Bicknell. The camp built the Blue Spruce and Posey Lake campgrounds as well as a large amphitheater on the south shore of Posey Lake that seated close to 100 people. Programs were presented in the amphitheater with CCC enrollees and Escalante townspeople often sharing the stage. Hiking trails were constructed, and a lookout was built on the mountain high above Posey Lake that affords a panoramic view of the lake and the area toward (See SUP on page 7-A) SUP From Page 6-A Escalante and beyond. The CCC camps were a great economic boon to Escalante during the Depression and helped bring a cash flow into the town that was not available to towns who were not fortunate enough to have a camp. One person said, 'They were the best thing that ever happened to Escalante." Markers will be placed at FS-42, FS-42, east of Escalante, at FS-44, south of Posey Lake, and at FS-18 on the Blue Spring Ridge. After the dedication ceremonies, those who wish may drive to the various locations and view the markers. |