Camp Cody Is To Be Located On Site of Old Camp Brookes
Captain Fred G. Stritzinger Arrives to Take Charge of All Arrangements to Care for 15,000 Men of All Branches of the Service
City Council and Chamber of Commerce Cooperate with Army Officials in Planning for Comfort of Soldiers. Detachments from Delaware and West Virginia Will Arrive First
Deming has been selected by the United States military authorities as a semi-permanent camp which will be immediately established on the site of Camp Brooks, located one half mile north of the Santa Fe round house, which was used for the summer encampment of the New Mexico National Guard in 1914. Arrangements are being made for the reception of two brigades of infantry, comprising six regiments, composed in all of 7200 men; one squadron of cavalry of 400 men; one battery of artillery of 142 men; one complete ambulance corps of 65 men; and two companies of trucks, 27 trucks to the company, and three men to the truck. These troops will come forward by regiments, starting today, just as rapidly as accommodations are made for their reception. The first regiment to arrive on the ground today will be from Delaware and the next to follow will be one regiment from West Virginia, which will reach Deming next Wednesday.
Capt. Frederick G. Stritzinger of the 23rd Infantry arrived in Deming at midnight Friday, and has been constantly at work with the Deming Chamber of Commerce prominent citizens, businessmen and contractors. Captain Stritzinger will be permanently located here as quartermaster in charge of construction. He has opened permanent offices in the old Lester & Deckert store building on Gold Avenue. Harry A. Lane, secretary of the Chamber of, Commerce, is acting as his secretary in his dealings with the local businessmen, and Quartermaster Sergeant Cox with a staff of six clerks is in charge of all the clerical work made necessary by the big influx of soldiers. Major Willard F. Truby, of the medical corps, who arrived Monday, is in charge of all the new hospital work, and will be permanently located in Deming. – Deming Headlight – Deming, Luna County, New Mexico, Friday, July 21, 1916
Birdseye View of Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Even with the town residents renting space to families, there was a shortage of housing. In anticipation of this shortage, speculators built the town of Codyville just outside the camp boundaries and northwest of Deming. These homes were poorly constructed, one bedroom cottages. Speculators also built a few apartment buildings that contained studio and one-bedroom units. Ironically, while the camp no longer exists, some of this housing is still in use today. Little more was ever written about the homes as the war ended quickly and, when it did, the Army quickly abandoned the camp. The speculators then sold the homes and apartment complexes to local businessmen and left town.
Families
As for families, only a minimal number actually followed their men to the remote desert. At the time, it was customary for an officer to remain single until he became a captain. Career enlisted men could not afford to marry, so most remained single. As for families accompanying drafted men, the Army highly discouraged the practice. The War Department attempted to defer married men with dependent families whenever possible.
The only families present at the Cantonment belonged to the camp officers with the rank of major and above and a very few enlisted men. Toward the end of the war, soldiers converted barracks buildings into apartments, but they were still incredibly primitive and temporary. All were anxiously awaiting their next assignment out of the desert or their train ticket home.
Closure
After Camp Cody closed, it quickly became a ghost town. The Army moved some of the buildings to Camp Furlong and dismantled, salvaged, or destroyed the remainder. Only the 16 buildings of the camp’s main hospital were left intact. The Army used these structures for several months as a convalescent hospital for wounded hoops returning from Europe. Afterwards, Deming advertised the hospital for sale. There was only one offer. The Sisters of Notre Dame turned it into Holy Cross Hospital in 1923. The hospital operated as a sanitarium until 1939 when it closed for economic reasons. In March 1939 the sanitarium burned to the ground. Only a few pieces of foundations remain, and the memories of a few old soldiers. – Written by James W. White – Date Unknown
Codyville Outside of Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Each cantonment throughout the United States required 8,000-12,000 acres of land, a fresh and plentiful water supply, and a railroad line. Deming qualified and with the offer of free land, barracks construction began within 60 days. Located northwest of town, Camp Cody was two and one half miles long and one and a quarter miles wide. By the close of the war, it contained three main streets and 18 cross streets, all graded and topped with gravel and soaked in crude oil. Buildings included:
120 mess houses (seating 250 men each) Headquarters building for each regiment Office buildings for each brigade 1200 bath houses 11 large warehouses 1 post office (capacity for 100,000 troops) Division headquarters 5 YMCA buildings and headquarters Regimental hospitals (12 beds each) 1 large base hospital 1 large remount station (covering 100 acres) Troop quarters (6,000 framed and floored tents with electric lights and coal heaters) 2 large 100,000 gallon wooden water storage tank towers Fireplugs every 450 feet
The standard building plan for the entire country was a two-story structure large enough to hold an entire company. The main floor consisted of the mess hall and kitchen, and sometimes a recreational area. The second floor was completely open with 150-200 bunks for the company. Because these barracks were of a standard design used throughout the Army and Navy, none were ever fabricated with regional styles or climate in mind. Very few even had indoor plumbing facilities. Although Camp Cody was built under Federal guidelines, it was unique that almost all the structures were one story. They were rough framed and had a low-pitched roof covered by tarpaper. These buildings served as mess halls, hospitals, headquarters, showers, and latrines. Most of the troops at Camp Cody stayed in floored tents, as the Army never did quite catch up with the influx of soldiers passing through the Camp.
The government finished basic construction of the Camp in the summer of 1917, and Camp Cody became the training center for 34th Division, (also known as the Sandstorm Division). The first contingent to arrive was the Minnesota National Guard. Over the next year and a half, more than 30,000 troops passed through the Camp. Troops from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota came to Camp Cody for their initial training. Instruction usually lasted but three weeks before the men traveled overseas for final training and battle.
Family Housing
Because Camp Cody was temporary, the Army did not plan or build any family housing at the post. Instead the Army and the town of Deming had a formal agreement regarding the rental management of private properties. The deal, however, did not benefit private citizens as well as they had hoped. In turn, the families who followed their men had to manage in the living conditions of a “boom” town. Officers and some enlisted rented homes and apartments in Deming, but the officers were quick to point out that the rates were excessive and a violation of the original Army agreement. A single furnished room rented for $50 per month, while a small cottage rented for $150 per month. The situation became so severe; that the camp officers threatened to build off-post quarters themselves. However, the soldiers leveled the accusations of gouging more at a group of individuals who had moved into town when the camp was built and not at the permanent residents of Deming.
In response to the growing number of complaints, the Army formed a board of officers to review all rental rates and set them according to what soldiers could pay. For example, the board estimated that an enlisted man could pay five dollars per month for an unfurnished room and seven dollars per month for a furnished room. The community protested these rates and the controversy continued until the Army left. – Written by James W. White – Date Unknown
Unlike Fort Wingate, which was used solely as a refugee camp during World War I, Camp Cody was an active, vibrant post in southern New Mexico during the Great War. The Great War drew the military back to New Mexico in full force, if only briefly. The Army established sixteen large training centers throughout the United States for draftees and National Guard soldiers, and sixteen centers for regular Army troops. Known as Cantonments, these installations were temporary training facilities, and designed to be short-lived from their outset. The government specifically located the National Guard Training Centers in the southern parts of the U.S., because they felt that these transient soldiers were unreliable and unable to handle the harsh winter conditions of northern posts. Prominent among these new camps was Camp Cody, just outside Deming, New Mexico.
Historical Background
Since 1904, the National Guard had used the desert areas outside of Deming, New Mexico, for training, but made no improvements. Seven thousand eight hundred troops from Delaware, Arkansas, Wyoming and New Hampshire arrived in July 1916 to an open, dusty desert. These troops began permanent construction of Brigade Headquarters, a field hospital, showers, and latrines. They also set up a temporary post office and a YMCA. Nevertheless, in February 1917 for unknown reasons, the Army abruptly sent the troops home.
The Deming City Government offered the land to the federal government free of charge, if they would return and established a long-term camp in Deming. The government agreed, and made arrangements for the Southern Pacific Railroad to construct additional track in the camp area for off-loading construction supplies and later troops. J. W. Thomson of St. Louis, Missouri, received the overall construction contract. The actual building contract went to Hughs and O’Rourke Construction Company of Dallas, Texas. The government paid the contractors on a percentage formula that amounted to seven percent of the cost of construction. All told, the project cost $2,000,000 and employed 3,000 laborers. – Written by James W. White – Date Unknown
Devil Horse and the 34th Division Crest at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico 1917-1918
When an enlisted man’s shoes need repairing, he turns them in to his company supply sergeant. Before doing so, however, he cleans the shoes thoroughly. Loose inner soles which have been inserted by the wearer for his own comport and convenience are removed by him and kept in his possession when the shoes are turned in for repairs.
As the company supply sergeant receives a pair of shoes, he tags them with a tag which is divided into three coupons separated by horizontal perforated lines. Each coupon bears the same number. The end coupon bears no other marks except the date and tag number. On the middle coupon are the names of various repairs that a shoe could need and blanks for check marks next to these names. The last coupon bears the date, the size of the shoe, the name, rank and organization of the owner.
The supply sergeant tears off the end coupon and gives it to the individual owner of the shoes as his receipt, while the remaining part of the tag accompanies the shoes turned in by members of the company to the unit supply officer. The latter gives the supply sergeant, for the company commander, a “due certificate,” A. G. O. Form 603. On this form is listed the kind and number of shoes turned in.
Regimental Cobblers Help.
Regimental cobblers make all repairs to shoes which their equipment will permit, in order to avoid over loading the camp repair shop with excessive quantities of work.
With each company lot of shoes turned in to the unit supply officer for repair, the company commander furnishes a certificate showing whether or not the articles were worn out or damaged through fair wear and tear in the service, listing hose not so worn out or damaged, together with evidence showing the circumstances therefore. Such as were so worn out, are with company commander’s certificate aforementioned and evidence showing the circumstance, submitted by the unit supply officer to a survey officer to fix the amount of the damage and the responsibly of any supply officer to a survey officer to fix the amount of the damage and the responsibility therefore, thus avoiding the necessity of any survey after the articles reach the conservation and reclamation officer. The condemned shoes are ordered turned over to the conservation ad reclamation officer.
The unit supply officer delivers the shoes turned in to him to the camp repair shop in suitable packages. For the entire lot turned in by the unit supply officer, the conservation and reclamation officer give him a “due certificate”.
When shoes turned in for repair and found by the conservation and reclamation officer to be beyond repair, the conservation and reclamation officer furnishes the unit supply officer with a certificate in duplicate, setting forth the number ad kinds of shoes found by him to be incapable of repair, including those cup up and utilized in repairing other shoes, and this certificate is credited on the conservation and reclamation officer’s “due certificate” given to the unit supply officer.
Sending for Repaired Shoes.
The unit supply officer calls at the camp repair shop for the repaired shoes upon notice that the repairs shoes have been completed and turns them over to the company supply sergeants, who deliver them to the original wearers. Due credit is given on the respective “due certificates” of the conservation and reclamation officer and the unit supply officer.
Unless adverse conditions absolutely prevent, there are returned to the enlisted men the identical shoes turned in by him for repair.
When, because of delay in repair of the shoes turned in, it is necessary for the unit supply officer to replace the shoes permanently by issues of others, the shoes when repaired are inspected and packed for reissue before being returned to the unit supply officer. If, after shoes have been turned in for repair the unit is transferred to another station and it is impracticable to return the shoes to the unit, the unit supply officer takes them up on his returns and invoices them to the camp quartermaster, under whom the conservation and reclamation officer is serving. These shoes are covered by the conservation and reclamation officer turns them over to the amp quartermaster.
The Spring Turnover.
Many shoes turned in to the camp quartermaster for various reasons, as by units going overseas, require repairing before reissue. These are sent to the camp quartermaster and are called for by his transportation. An analogy in clothing repair would be the “spring turnover,” at which the clothes received by the camp quartermaster are sent to the conservation and reclamation shops for renovation and repair. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – September 19, 1918
Camp Cody Visitors Pass, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Though a shoe shop of necessity requires skilled and technical help the work of the Camp Cody repair shop has been so cleverly organized that that most any one with ordinary ability can be of great help. This had to be done on account of the few men in camp who had any experience in the line of shoe repairing.
Value of Repair
The importance of shoe repair in the army is realized when it is learned that at a large cantonment in the country the camp shoe repair shop reduced the issue of new shoes 40 per cent. In addition to ordinary repaired, at some camps orthopedic and corrective work under the direction of medical officers is being carried on. On account of the number of shoes to be repaired the fact that repair can be done so much more satisfactorily and economically in government operated shops that by contract, it is the intention of conservation and reclamation division to have a shoe shop in every camp.
Construction
The outstanding feature in the construction of a shoe repair shop is that it must be built very substantially and have its walls and floor strong and well supported in order to hold the machines steady and level. At one corner of the building there should be a room large enough to receive all the shoes brought in for repair. In the other corner o the same end of the building should be another room to which the shoes can be sent after passing out of the receiving room and through the repair room. Both these rooms should have large doors leading out to platforms to which and from which the shoes can be easily loaded.
If a shoe is allowed to go too far before being repaired, the life of the shoe is greatly shortened, for in no case can the shoe be made as durable as it could have if repaired at the proper time. For example, take a shoe that has been worn completely through. A new half outer sole can be put on, but the shoe will never be really serviceable again, for to be serviceable a shoe must be comfortable as well as durable and when a shoe thus repaired is worn the inner sole thus curl up around the hole. By all means therefore, see that shoes and all other wearing apparel is turned in for repair in due time.
Classes of Shoes Coming to Shop.
A camp repair shop takes in shoes of three classes: Those turned in by organizations to be repaired; condemned shoes turned in either for repair or for material to be used in repair; and those belonging to officers or civilians in camp. A charge is made for repairs on the last class of shoes. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – September 19, 1918
Camp Cody Shoe Repair Shop, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Since the arrival of Captain Stanley Eliseman at Camp Cody, the work of the conservation and reclamation department has sprung by leaps ad bounds. Things are always humming in this department. The rapid growth of this branch of Camp Cody activities can be best appreciated when it is noted that its personnel has jumped from a handful to a full fledged company organization, with it company administration, company street, mess hall, etc. Remarkable as this progress is to some, to the more calculating and foresighted it was inevitable, for the enormous amount of work, the possibilities along the lines of conservation and economy bespoke of only one result, a large commissioned and enlisted personnel and huge ships and ware houses. Conservation and reclamation has by no means reached the zenith of its development, for the opportunities in its path to conserve the treasury of Uncle Sam, the wearing apparel of soldier and food stuffs, are unlimited.
Repair Used Materials.
Of the many and complex problems confronting the conservation and reclamation officer are the repair of clothing, shoes, tents and other equipment, the disposal of the waste of the mess hall and other damaged commodities. With 3,000,000 men in khaki, 3,000,000 more coming in a short while, the task of adequately supplying such a vast army, is truly a herculean one. And when one pauses to consider the shortage of raw materials, the lack of machinery for its conversion into wearable articles and the scarcity of skilled and unskilled labor, because of the inroad on it by the military, then, and then only does one grasp the absolute and crying necessity for conservation and reclamation. Strange as it may sound to the more skeptical, conservation and reclamation is as big a factor in the prosecution of the war to victorious conclusion, as a battery of guns booming their death knell on the western front. An army must be well equipped before it can fight. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – September 19, 1918
Clothing Repair Shop At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Men and Teams Grading in Deming Yard; Roundhouse to be Near the “YMCA“
Division superintendent Archbold, are in Deming to attend a joint meeting of railroad officials and officials and to incidentally note the beginning of the building of a $500,000 terminal on the Southern Pacific grounds east of the Union station park.
One hundred men and 30 teams are engaged in grading an area upon which will be placed five tracks to hold 70 cars each. The new roundhouse will be placed near the present location of the “YMCA” tracks.
Other necessary buildings will be erected as rapidly as material and workmen can be secured. Road-master Charles Butler is taking a very active hand in the new construction. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – Date Unknown
Camp Cody Soldiers At Deming, New Mexico Train Depot 1917-1918
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Two Other New Divisions, One Each in Ohio and South Carolina
According to information from Washington, three new army divisions have been ordered created by General March, chief of staff. The 97th division will be organized at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico; the 95th at Camp Sherman, Ohio, and the 96th at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina.
Two separate organizations will be maintained at Camp Cody. The camp organization will be permanent and the division organization will be formed with the coming of each division. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – Date Unknown
Camp Cody Building and Soldiers, Deming, New Mexico 1917-1918
The Thirty-Fourth Division was made up of National Guard Units from the States of Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska. These states also supplied troops to other divisions, but that is outside of the scope of this paper. These other divisions were not trained at Camp Cody.
The following state troops made up the Thirty-Fourth Division.
Iowa: Headquarters 1st Iowa Brigade 1st Division Iowa Infantry 2nd Division Iowa Infantry 1st Squadron Iowa Cavalry 1st Iowa Field Artillery 1st Battalion Iowa Engineers Company C Iowa Signal Corps Iowa Ammunition Train Iowa Field Hospitals and Ambulance Companies #’s 1 and 2.
Minnesota: Headquarters 1st Minnesota Brigade 1st Minnesota Infantry 2nd Minnesota Infantry 3rd Minnesota Infantry Minnesota Field Hospital and ambulance Company #1
Nebraska: 4th Nebraska Infantry 5th Nebraska Infantry 6th Nebraska Infantry Company B Nebraska Signal Corps
North Dakota: 1st Regiment North Dakota Infantry North Dakota Field Hospital #1
South Dakota: 1st Regiment South Dakota Cavalry
Camp Cody Tents and Soldiers at Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918
Memories of Camp Cody Weblog 