{"id":14003,"date":"2026-01-13T16:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T23:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-seeks-family-stories-to-preserve-cortezs-depression-era-camp-history\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:42:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:42:41","slug":"city-seeks-family-stories-to-preserve-cortezs-depression-era-camp-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/city-seeks-family-stories-to-preserve-cortezs-depression-era-camp-history\/","title":{"rendered":"City seeks family stories to preserve Cortez\u2019s Depression-era camp history"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo
Photo of CCC Camp SCS-14-C from September 13, 1940, with names of those enrolled. (Courtesy of The National Archives\/2024)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

About 86 years ago, about 200 men worked in a soil conservation camp just north of Cortez. They built fences, stabilized stream banks, constructed check dams, improved pastures, planted trees and even graveled portions of Main Street at the courthouse.<\/p>\n

Established during the Great Depression under President Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s New Deal, the camp provided jobs for unemployed youths during hard times.<\/p>\n

The sizable camp had a strong presence in much smaller Cortez, which had a population of about 1,800 people.<\/p>\n

Dozens of newspaper articles detail the camp\u2019s activities: lending labor to local projects, some campers having run-ins with the law and even a public event where half of Cortez attended an open house, according to local archaeologist Ryan Spittler.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the weekends, or certain times, they were able to go on leave, go to church Sundays, maybe to a restaurant or a bar in town. So, they were somewhat intertwined in the community,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just like this isolated camp at the northern edge of town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo of Cortez Civilian Conservation Corps campsite, circa 1939-1941. (Courtesy of Montezuma Heritage Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Grant fuels renewed research<\/div>\n

Renewed interest comes<\/a> as the city of Cortez pursues further research through a $22,736 History Colorado grant, prompting Spittler and historians to seek family stories and artifacts. Officials ask residents with ancestral ties to share stories, photos, letters or artifacts. Families are encouraged to contact Spittler at ryan@woodscanyon.net<\/a> or (970) 564-9640.<\/p>\n

Through archaeology, archival research and community input, Spittler and the city hope to reconstruct the history of Civilian Conservation Corps Camp SCS-14-C (Company 3837), which operated from 1939 to 1941 near the Carpenter Natural Area.<\/p>\n

The goal: learn what daily camp life was like and preserve those stories for city records, Spittler said.<\/p>\n

Service projects related to soil conservation spanned the county and parts of Southwest Colorado, including Dolores and San Miguel counties.<\/p>\n

Spittler, principal investigator at Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants Inc., said many enrollees were not local, traveling from Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. He believes a few families may still live here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s at least two families in the county that have ties to individuals at the camp. One of which I\u2019ve reached out to, but I haven\u2019t heard back yet. It was only yesterday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Woods Canyon completed a cultural resource survey of the Carpenter and Geer Natural Areas at the city\u2019s request. The survey documented 13 archaeological sites and seven isolated finds, offering new insight into the camp\u2019s footprint and daily operations.<\/p>\n

Spittler has additionally been performing archival research to uncover more records.<\/p>\n

\"Otis
Otis Denton was a Utility Driver in Cortez from 1939-1941. (Courtesy of the Montezuma Heritage Museum)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Stories from the archives<\/div>\n

Using the National Archives, Spittler located about 140 enrollee records \u2013 official government files for each person stationed there \u2013 with enrollment dates, medical reports and disciplinary notes. Some men attended school classes; nine returned to high school and two to college. Recreational activities included pool, pingpong, dominoes and organized sports, such as baseball, basketball, volleyball and softball.<\/p>\n

He also conducted research at the Montezuma Heritage Museum in Cortez, reviewing the Montezuma Valley Journal<\/em> and the Cortez Sentinel <\/em>newspapers for further context on the camp\u2019s role in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can think of one where there was a mention of a boxing tournament and members of the camp had gone off to in Grand Junction. So yeah, just kind of sometimes kind of random things like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Community involvement encouraged<\/div>\n

Spittler notes that because the CCC camp\u2019s history is recent and well-documented, the project offers a unique opportunity for community involvement. The availability of records makes it easier to engage the community to see if anyone has surviving information.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody necessarily who was at the camp would be still living today. They\u2019d be well over 100 years old. It\u2019s possible, but I think it\u2019s more than likely their family members would be the ones that would have that information at this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The camp shut down to make more funds available for World War II, and its buildings were transferred to the Department of War. In the 1950s, a residential area replaced the camp. Spittler said he found trash and leftover materials from the camp\u2019s buildings that now serve as artifacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

to connect community input, archival research and field work for fuller research<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-14003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19275,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003\/revisions\/19275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14003"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=14003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}