Former Camp Cody Rector Now At Santa Rita, New Mexico

Released from Army Duties to carry On Work at Big Chino Mining Camp

Reverend R. L. Ferguson, who has been one of the most active camp pastors at Camp Cody, since the establishment of the Camp last August, has been sent to give his whole time to the work at Santa Rita. He has been camp pastor for the Methodist church among whom he worked, and the influence he welded will be felt by many a soldier on the battlefields of France.

He worked intimately with the Y.M.C.A. Secretaries, speaking to large groups in camp “huts”, helping in prayer meetings during the pneumonia epidemics, as well as visiting large numbers of sick at the base hospital. His knowledge of conditions of camp life was perhaps the most through of any pastor in Camp Cody. He made a host of friends among the boys and officers of the camp, all of whom regretted to see his labors ending in this field. The new work is a large prosperous charge. It has been developed altogether by Reverend Ferguson.

For several months he went from Camp Cody and built it from a virgin field to one of the most important and responsible works in New Mexico. The character of work done at Camp Cody bespeaks for Santa Rita a ministry from Rev. Ferguson that will be felt by every person in that community, which is one of the most active mining towns in the Southwest. – “The Silver City Enterprise” – Date Unknown

Open Air Services – 135 Inf – Camp Cody, New Mexico, 1917-1918

Captain Finlayson at Camp Cody Banquet

One of the guests who attracted much attention at the banquet given Saturday night in Deming by the sixty-seventh brigade in honor of the Thirty-Fourth Division, Major General A. P. Blocksom, was lieutenant R. K. Finlayson of the fifty-second Canadian Infantry of Winnipeg, and now residing in Tyrone.

Dressed in his field uniform and obliged to walk with a cane, as the result of a serious injury to one of his legs when struck by a piece of shell at the Somme, Lieutenant Finlayson was an inspiration to the younger officers present, and he was bombarded by many question after the dinner by a throng of officers anxious to meet him and receive first-hand information on condition on the other side of the first line.

When the war broke out the officer was a law student at Winnipeg. His injury will prevent him from rendering any further active service in the field. He will visit indefinitely at Tyrone, NM, with his sister Mrs. L. L. Miner, whose husband Dr. Miner, has charge of the Phelps Dodge hospital at the big mining camp. – “The Silver City Enterprise” February 1918

109th Field Signal Battalion Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico 1917-1918

Camp Cody’s Ambulance Corps Visits Silver City

The 133rd Ambulance Co. Of the 109th Sanitary Transportation regiment stationed at Camp Cody made a trip to Silver City this week on a practice hike. They spent Thursday night in the city and were camped at Plata Vista. Captain R. W. Smith was in charge of the company and was accompanied by Captain Hooker of this city. There were 14 trucks in the outfit. – “The Silver City Enterprise February 8, 1918

Camp Cody’s Ambulances Corps, 1917-1918

List Of Camp Cody Deaths Published in the Deming, New Mexico Headlight Newspaper

January 18, 1918 – William J. Cone – 134th Killed when struck by service car on west Pine Street

April 13, 1918 – Benjamin Ervin Deuel, born 1896 in Alliance, Box Butte County, Nebraska, died at Camp Cody, Deming County, New Mexico. Killed during maneuvers, trampled by artillery horse team.

August 2, 1918 – French Lt. Fernand Herbert, French Lt. Jean Jegou and American Sgt. Ernest Picard all drowned in flooded arroyo.

August 2, 1918 – Private Clarence L. Bailey was struck by lighting.

August 9, 1918 – Four lose their lives when train hits car. Two of the soldiers were brothers. Rov V. Kinnanman & Vern Kinnanman,
Soldier Leo A. McGrath and driver Walter G. McClure.

August 23, 1918 – First Lt. Olaf B. Damm was killed by hand grenade explosion in a trench while practicing bomb throwing.

During the course of the epidemic, hundreds of nurses became ill themselves and many died. Of the 100 nurses serving at Camp Cody hospital in New Mexico, 75 caught the flu and five died. – The New York University Press – National Library of Medicine

Outside Ward – Base Hospital, Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918

First Military Funeral At Camp Cody, Deming New Mexico, 1917-1918

World War 1 34th Division Liberty Loan Patch

Entirely machine made patches using a technology developed a the turn of the century. First a strip of base material is fed into a loom then colored thread worked into it completing the design. Usually constructed of thin cotton, silk or artificial silk. These are very thin patches. They are called Liberty Loan patches because they were made available as part of a final war loan promotion. Liberty Loan patches were made available for sale at stateside px’s and overseas embarkation points at the end of the war. – El Paso Herald Newspaper – Date Unknown

World War 1 34th Division Liberty Loan Patch – Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918

23,000 Soldiers Now At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico

On his return to Santa Fe Wednesday from Camp Cody, where he reviewed, 14,000 soldiers on Saturday., Governor W.E. Lindsey declared that the health of the men, 23,000 are in camp, appears excellent, and morale splendid.

On Saturday evening Governor Lindsey witnessed a bayonet drill conducted by an English sergeant, who had spent two and a half years on the French battle front, and the governor was impressed with the new system of killing Germans. The drill is quite different from the general idea of the use of the bayonet gleaned from stories of other wars.

Governor Lindsey said that the plan to have a school in which to teach the Spanish-American sufficient English to understand the orders as well as the rules of camp has been approved. There are 1,000 men of New Mexico now at the Camp. – “The Silver City Enterprise” July 5, 1918

Development Battalion No. 2 – Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918

Jewish soldiers At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico

Jewish citizens of Silver City who have been making inquires into what is being done for the Jewish soldiers in the Camp will be pleased to learn the Jewish Board for Welfare Work in the United States Army and Navy has established a branch here. Mr. Jack Yellen, a former newspaper man from Buffalo, NY, has been assigned to this Camp by the Central Office of the J.B.W.W. in New York City and is already on the scene and has organized religious services, established a club house, and otherwise looking after the welfare of the 250 Jews in the Thirty-Fourth Division.

By courtesy of the division commander, Mr. Yellen was give permission to utilize a central located mess hall exclusively for his work. Through the kindness of Mr. Sigmund Lindauer, the permanent Jewish resident in Deming, Mr. Yellen was enabled to transform the mess hall into a fine clubhouse where religious services are conducted every Friday evening, instruction given in French, English, and Hebrew, and where the Jewish men may read, smoke, write letters and otherwise enjoy themselves in their leisure hours. Rabbi J.H. Landau of Las Vegas has obtained a splendid Victrola for the men and Mr. Yellen is now waging a campaign for a piano, comfortable lounging furniture and a supply of free smokes for his men.

The clubhouse has been open a week and is gaining in popularly every day. It is open to everyone, non-Jews as well as Jews. Mr. Lindaur has contributed his personal library containing a valuable collection of English books on Jewish subjects and the American Library Association has provided a number of the best Yiddish books.

“ I have a lot of most interesting lot of Jewish men here,” said Mr. Yellen today. “I have all classes, from the most extreme reform orthodox, to the most extreme reform elements.” They come from all parts of the country as far east as New York City, as far west as San Francisco and as far north as Duluth.

“Until the J.B.W.W. established a branch here many of them had not attended a religious service of any kind in more than nine months. While a great deal has been done for the Jewish men in camps nears big cities, the boys at Deming have been shamefully neglected, and I hope that the Jewish committee around Deming will see their duty towards these boys and fulfill it.” Mr. Yellen will be pleased to hear from any Jewish citizens of Silver City. – Camp Cody, Trench and Camp Newspaper – February 18, 1917

Casual Camp Service – 34th Division Theatre – Camp Cody – June 2, 1918

Dawson W. Pugh Dies At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico

The death of the young man took place at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, Saturday, September 21, at 3:30 A. M. He was stricken a week before with spinal meningitis. The disease struck hard, and almost from the first his life was despaired of.

The first duty assigned him at Camp Cody was assisting a surgeon, and in this he became proficient. Later he as assigned to the telephone system where he was working when stricken. Knowing well the desperate chances he was taking and ever thoughtful of those he would leave behind should he fall, he had taken out a government insurance policy of $10,000. – Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Newspaper – September 1918

Dawson W. Pugh Dies At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico

Captain Finlayson at Camp Cody Banquet in Deming, New Mexico

One of the guests who attracted much attention at the banquet given Saturday night in Deming by the sixty-seventh brigade in honor of the Thirty-Fourth Division, Major General A.P. Blocksom, was lieutenant R.K. Finlayson of the fifty-second Canadian Infantry of Winnipeg, and now residing in Tyrone. Dressed in his field uniform and obliged to walk with a cane, as the result of a serious injury to one of his legs when struck by a piece of shell at the Somme, Lieutenant Finlayson was an inspiration to the younger officers present, and he was bombarded by many question after the dinner by a throng of officers anxious to meet him and receive first-hand information on condition on the other side of the first line. When the war broke out the officer was a law student at Winnipeg. His injury will prevent him from rendering any further active service in the field. He will visit indefinitely at Tyrone, New Mexico, with his sister Mrs. L.L. Miner, whose husband Dr. Miner, has charge of the Phelps Dodge hospital at the big mining camp. – “The Silver City Enterprise” February 1918

Camp Cody Trucks And Tents, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918

Camp Cody Ambulance Corps Visits Silver City

The 133rd Ambulance Co. Of the 109th Sanitary Transportation regiment stationed at Camp Cody made a trip to Silver City this week on a practice hike. They spent Thursday night in the city and were camped at Plata Vista. Capt. R.W. Smith was in charge of the company and was accompanied by Capt. Hooker of this city. There were 14 trucks in the outfit. – “The Silver City Enterprise February 8, 1918

Grading The Road At Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, 1917-1918