Category: Camp-News Date: 2015-07-12
35 Skunk This Month
. . BY THE SUPERINTENDENT
The American Islander was the camp newspaper for American Island located near Chamberlain, South Dakota.
It has been a wonderful month to work since our last letter, Enough moisture to settle the dust and cool enough so that more exercise was necessary to keep comfortable. Much has been accomplished. Job 301B is completed, which means a total of one mile of the old Missouri river bank sloped, matted 70 feet wide, weighted and the bank slope riprapped. This involved an enormous tonnage, 9000 tons of rock, 9000 tons of shale, 2000 tons of gravel and 1000 truck loads of willows. Job 301C begins at the highway bridge. From here the public can see the work from the road and are showing much interest in it.
Seven hundred more trees were transplanted during the month around the new entrance drive and make a good showing. Our wild life technician has been much interested in the numerous pheasants, prairie dogs, squirrels, rabbits and beaver in the park. He was not so enthusiastic about an association with a skunk he met in close quarters--said kitties have been a real pest, seven were invited to move their home from under the mess hall stoop by the application of boiling water and the game and fish commission has authorized a trapper for the Park and he has caught 35 skunk this month.
Foreman Riis continues to unearth interesting fossils in the shale hill -- that is his particular hobby.
Willows for mat weaving are getting scarce and we may have to wait for some to grow.
The promotion of Leader Carl Summy to the facilitating personnel is a reward for two years work in the CCC, well done and is an encouragement to all the members that veterans are not barred from promotion.
The new members and some of the old ones who helped to establish this camp and then left us, only to return when they found going tough on the outside have remarked on the fine camp and the improvement since they last saw it.
We have been visited by the Bridge Engineer of the State Highway Commission, in connection with importance of our work in protecting the Highway Bridge and its appproaches.
We hope to have a new office and drafting room within the next thirty days, a much needed improvement.
You can read the entire issue of "The American Islander" November 21, 1936 PDF reproduction. The original was loaned to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Museum of South Dakota by Betty Rasmussen whose father, David Huisinga, was at Camp Wind Cave. We'll have additional items from this interesting loan in the future.
He was not so enthusiastic about an association with a skunk he met in close quarters
